Department for Transport

Trains: Waste Management

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for his Department to operate trains with retention tanks, to be emptied in rail depots, to end the dumping of excrement on railways.

Joseph Johnson: By 31 December 2019, all Department for Transport franchisees will have ceased the discharge of effluent onto railway tracks. This will be achieved though the modification of existing trains by fitting toilet retention tanks or by the introduction of new trains that do not discharge on to the tracks.

Heathrow Airport: Safety

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will estimate the proportionate increase in airfield crash risk within a 10km radius of Heathrow under the Heathrow north west runway expansion proposal consulted on in the draft National Policy Statement.

Jesse Norman: The revised draft Airports National Policy Statement is clear that any potential scheme at Heathrow must comply with the UK’s civil aviation safety regime, regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). A detailed safety assessment will be required as part of the CAA’s airspace change process. This assessment includes the air traffic safety risks associated with the proposed airspace design and whether the level of air traffic control resource and infrastructure is appropriate to support the change safely. The Airports Commission did however consider safety as part of their analysis. They asked the Health and Safety Laboratory to conduct analysis of the scale of increase in crash risk associated with the three shortlisted schemes. The Health and Safety Laboratory’s report can be found here:www.gov.uk/government/publications/airports-commission-final-report-operational-efficiency

Lakeside Energy from Waste

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State Transport, on what dates (a) he and (b) his Department have met (i) representatives of Lakeside Energy waste facility and (ii) local authorities regarding the relocation of that facility as a result of the draft National Policy Statement proposal for Heathrow Airport expansion.

Jesse Norman: The Transport Minister for Aviation met with local authorities from the Heathrow area on 1st November 2016. This was to discuss the process of publicising the proposed Airport National Policy Statement. The Lakeside Energy from Waste plant was raised and the local authorities in attendance were advised we would welcome views as part of any future consultation. No Ministerial meetings have been held between Ministers and local authorities to discuss the potential relocation of Lakeside Energy from Waste facility. On the 17th February 2017 officials from the Department met with representatives of Lakeside Energy from Waste facility at their request, together with other interested commercial stakeholders to give an overview of the National Policy Statement process. Discussions relating to expansion have taken place in observance of the principles set out in the government’s published Statement of Approach which prevents the Department from entertaining private representations about the content of draft / revised draft Airports NPS(s) while policy is under development.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-approach-for-the-revised-draft-airports-national-policy-statement

M20: Large Goods Vehicles

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what advice his Department received from Highways England on planning for Operation Stack.

Jesse Norman: Operation Stack is a police-led contingency plan to deal with queuing HGVs caused by cross-Channel disruption. Highways England works closely with Kent Police on planning for Operation Stack and provides advice regularly to the Department on these arrangements.

South West Railway Line: Stagecoach Group

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Stagecoach submitted a compliant bid for the South Western Railways franchise competition in 2017.

Joseph Johnson: Non-compliances were identified in Stagecoach’s South Western franchise bid. However, it is not uncommon for the Department to identify non-compliances in franchise bids as part of the rigorous evaluation process. Where non-compliances are identified they are dealt with in accordance with the Invitation To Tender (https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/550983/swf-itt.pdf), a copy of which is to be placed in the House Library.

Railways

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Transport what adjustments mechanisms exist within the (a) Greater Anglia and (b) South Western Trains franchises to support train operators in the event of downturns in employment levels in central London.

Joseph Johnson: For the franchises in question there is a Central London Employment adjustment mechanism in each of their agreements. The Central London Employment (CLE) mechanism is a risk sharing mechanism where if employment increases significantly above previous expectations DfT gets a share of the increased revenue the additional employment generates; and if it decreases to significantly below previous expectations DfT shares in the loss of revenue with the operator.

East Coast Railway Line

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what contractual changes his Department agreed with Agility Trains for the new Intercity Express Programme rolling stock on the East Coast in (a) 2014 (b) 2015 (c) 2016 (d) 2017 and (e) 2018.

Joseph Johnson: Since entering into the Intercity Express Programme East Coast Main Line contracts in July 2012 the Department has concluded two contractual variations with Agility Trains East Ltd. The first contractual variation was completed in April 2014, at the point the contract achieved financial close, to exercise the option to procure a further 30 9-car electric trains for the East Coast Mainline fleet. The second variation was completed in June 2015 and included a number of Department led changes to the base specification of the trains that arose out of the detailed design process. These changes included the addition of Pantograph Cameras, Speed Limiters and a Driver Advisory System.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Energy: Prices

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the cost implications for the public purse of not including an appeals process to an expert independent body on the level of a cap on energy prices in the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill; and what the evidential basis is for not including such an independent appeals process.

Claire Perry: The draft Bill would place a new duty on Ofgem to implement a cap on standard variable and default tariffs, and provides a bespoke power for Ofgem to implement the price cap through an amendment to the licence conditions. Energy companies would be able to appeal an Ofgem decision on whether to proceed with the licence modification by way of judicial review. A route of appeal by judicial review would be available to energy companies whether or not an additional route of appeal to the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) were included in the draft Bill. This means there is no additional public costs resulting from not including an appeal route to the CMA

Energy: Prices

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications of the Government's proposed household energy price cap for the smart meter roll-out.

Claire Perry: The draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill is clear that Ofgem must take into account an efficient supplier’s ability to finance its activities. This would include the roll out of smart meters, which is a requirement of their supply licence.

Energy: Prices

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reasons the draft Domestic Gas and Electricity (Tariff Cap) Bill proposes he rather than Ofgem or the Competition and Markets Authority makes the final decision on extending or terminating a domestic energy price cap in 2020.

Claire Perry: The decision on whether to introduce a price cap will be made by Parliament approving a Government Bill on a matter that was a manifesto commitment. It is therefore right for Government to decide whether such a price cap would remain in place, after a report and recommendation from Ofgem.

Companies: Ownership

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many confirmation statements his Department has challenged for inappropriate declarations of beneficial ownership since the requirement to make that declaration was introduced; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: 69,543 confirmation statements were rejected for reasons specifically related to the provision of beneficial ownership details between 1 July 2016 and 31 January 2018. However, the majority of these are corrected by the company immediately when informed. The enforcement policy of Companies House is to help companies comply with their filing requirements, rather than immediately resorting to criminal or civil sanction. This is particularly important where there is reasonably new requirement such as the requirement to register beneficial ownership.

Companies: Closures

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies were struck off the Register of Companies in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in action instigated by (i) the company and (ii) the Registrar in each of the last five full years.

Andrew Griffiths: The number of companies struck off the register in the last five years, broken down by location and instigator, are detailed in the table below:   Number of Companies Number of CompaniesDissolved (Struck Off - instigated by Registrar) Dissolved (Struck Off - instigated by the Company)England / WalesScotlandNorthern IrelandUnited Kingdom England / WalesScotlandNorthern IrelandUnited Kingdom2012-2013121,2656,4281,271128,964 138,4758,3411,343148,1592013-2014130,8407,0061,169139,015 160,1669,1121,494170,7722014-2015151,9088,3241,508161,740 175,86610,0711,822187,7592015-2016162,4598,8001,730172,989 190,73211,1902,023203,9452016-2017190,21710,2041,878202,299 197,18411,6921,928210,804

Companies: Registration

Nigel Mills: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many companies struck off the Register of Companies in (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14, (iii) 2014-15, (iv) 2015-16 and (v) 2016-17 had (a) never filed accounts and (b) had accounts overdue for filing at the time the application was made; how many of those proceedings were initiated by the Registrar in each category concerned cases where accounts were overdue for filing at the time the Registrar commenced action to strike off; and how many months each company in each category struck off by the Registrar had been in existence since their incorporation.

Andrew Griffiths: The number of companies struck off the register, how this was initiated, how many of those companies had (a) never filed accounts and (b) had accounts overdue for filing at the time the application for the periods concerned are shown in the tables below.Compulsory DissolutionsFinancial YearLocation(a) Number of companies struck off that never filed accounts(b) Number of companies struck off that had accounts overdue at the start of strike off action2012-13England/Wales76840433352012-13Scotland394929612012-13Northern Ireland6225422013-14England/Wales83718471952013-14Scotland458631522013-14Northern Ireland7254502014-15England/Wales92225609232014-15Scotland485140222014-15Northern Ireland8946342015-16England/Wales107577589462015-16Scotland548635202015-16Northern Ireland9667452016-17England/Wales114982655032016-17Scotland651645042016-17Northern Ireland1036876 Voluntary DissolutionsFinancial YearLocation(a) Number of companies struck off that never filed accounts(b) Number of companies struck off that had accounts overdue at the start of strike off action2012-13England/Wales43276165912012-13Scotland226711052012-13Northern Ireland3861582013-14England/Wales52537186442013-14Scotland273011322013-14Northern Ireland5111882014-15England/Wales58688234612014-15Scotland315612962014-15Northern Ireland5892572015-16England/Wales60294259542015-16Scotland334514582015-16Northern Ireland5852772016-17England/Wales62252244792016-17Scotland330915342016-17Northern Ireland590288 The part of the question relating to ‘how many months each company in each category struck off by the Registrar had been in existence since their incorporation’ has been provided as a separate document due to the volume of information requested. 



Compulsory Dissolutions Company Age At Strike Off
(Excel SpreadSheet, 465 KB)

Energy: Meters

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the number and proportion of smart meters which are operating in dumb mode.

Claire Perry: It is estimated there are currently around 400,000 meters being operated by large suppliers in ‘traditional’ mode. There were more than 8.6 million smart and advanced meters operating in Great Britain, in ‘smart mode’, as of 30 September 2017. The Data and Communications Company (DCC) is examining a range of options for moving SMETS1 meters into its national system, starting later this year, so that all consumers can keep their smart services when they switch energy supplier.

Solar Power

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of of deployment of (a) solar rooftop and (b) solar farm in the last 12 months.

Claire Perry: The Government keeps trends in the deployment of solar generation facilities under review as part of our on-going policy development process. Data on deployment levels by accreditation are published in Table 2 in “Solar photovoltaic deployment in the United Kingdom, published January 2018” (available at this link - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solar-photovoltaics-deployment )[1]  [1] Note that these figures are provisional and are likely to be revised in subsequent publications. This will be updated (to December 2017) on 22 February 2018.

Renewable Energy

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the change in the level of investment in renewable energy in the last 12 months.

Claire Perry: The UK is a world leader in clean growth and has invested more than £52 billion in renewable energy in the UK since 2010. Our Industrial Strategy sets out how we want to make sure that the UK continues to reap the benefits from the transition to a low carbon economy. That’s why we are investing £2.5 billion to support low carbon innovation in the UK between 2015 and 2021, and are making Clean Growth a priority of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. We monitor capacity of renewable generation, rather than levels of investment in renewable energy, and the past 12 months have seen significant new capacity additions.

Wind Power: Seas and Oceans

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the production of electricity from offshore wind.

Claire Perry: The UK is providing more support for offshore wind than any other country in the world. The last Contracts for Difference auction, with results announced on 11 September 2017, will bring forward 3.2GW of new capacity in the UK. This is more than the Netherlands and Denmark will bring forward through their last five combined auctions. As set out in the Clean Growth Strategy, the Government will improve the route to market for renewable technologies such as offshore wind through: Up to £557 million for further Pot 2 Contract for Difference auctions with the next one planned for spring 2019;Working with industry as they develop an ambitious Sector Deal for offshore wind, which could result in 10 gigawatts of new capacity, with the opportunity for additional deployment if this is cost effective, built in the 2020s.

Modern Working Practices Review

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2017 to Question 106151, when the Government plans to publish copies of the written evidence submitted to the Taylor Review of modern working practices on the Gov.uk website.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government intends to publish both the submissions to the review and a list of those who responded. Officials are currently in the process of redacting any personal information from the submissions and aim to publish these shortly.

EU Emissions Trading Scheme

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the Government plans to (a) publish the principal options for a replacement to the Emissions Trading Scheme and (b) consult on those options.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

New Businesses: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of business start-ups in Barnsley.

Andrew Griffiths: Government provides advice to start-up businesses across England through Gov.uk and the Business Support Helpline (0300 456 3565). In addition we have funded the provision of tailored advice and support through the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub. This growth hub provides support to businesses across the city region, including Barnsley. Sheffield City Region’s Launchpad programme (based at Barnsley’s Digital Media Centre and supported through the Government’s Local Growth Fund) provides free support to local pre-start and new businesses and is delivered through a collaboration involving the local authorities and the Prince’s Trust. Additionally, the Government funds the Start Up Loans scheme – and the Government supported British Business Bank has start-up loans available for small businesses in Barnsley including through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund which supports both start-ups and existing businesses with high growth potential.

Social Services: Pay

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Itemised Pay Statement) (Amendment) Order 2018, if he will take steps to ensure that social care employers provide details of all working time including (a) travel time and (b) sleep-in time on pay slips.

Andrew Griffiths: The Order requires all employers to provide details in payslips on the total number of hours paid for. This is to allow workers to identify any under recording of hours worked, and to encourage them to either raise this with their employer or make a free, confidential complaint to Acas. During a Government consultation we gathered evidence on the benefits and drawbacks of introducing further provisions requiring employers to disaggregate hours worked on payslips, and decided against making this a statutory requirement. However, many employers take this approach.

Conditions of Employment: Pay

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Itemised Pay Statement) (Amendment) Order 2018 to ensure that people with fragmented working patterns can record their hours of work.

Andrew Griffiths: The Order is intended to ensure time-paid workers know the total number of hours they are being paid for by reference to their payslip. If this figure is less than the total hours the worker has actually worked, then there is a risk of underpayment and we encourage the worker to raise the issue with their employer or raise a free, confidential complaint with Acas. The provisions in this Order increase transparency and information available to workers, to enable them to identify and then address underpayment.

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the actuarial advice on which the surplus sharing arrangement in the Mineworker’s Pension Scheme was based.

Claire Perry: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Israel: Security

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussion he has had with his Israeli counterpart on the security situation in those Israeli cities within range of rocket and terror attacks.

Alistair Burt: The Goverment regularly discusses the security situation with Israeli officials at all levels. Our commitment to Israel's seucrity is unwavering. We recognise that Israel has the right to ensure its own security, and that its citizens have the right to live without fear of attack. Rocket attacks threaten the daily lives of Israelis indiscriminately and make achieving peace more difficult. The UK continues to support a negotiated agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians which will protect Israeli citizens and ensure their safety. We call on all parties to refrain from violence and commit to a negotiated solution to end the conflict.

Proliferation

Nick Thomas-Symonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s priorities are for the next Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference; and what steps they are taking to implement those priorities.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Government believes that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) should remain the cornerstone of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. We urge all states that have not yet done so to join the NPT as non-Nuclear Weapons States. At this year's Preparatory Committee we will continue to engage with a wide range of states on how we can tackle the challenges that we face on non-proliferation and disarmament and enable access to the peaceful use of nuclear technology. The UK plays a leading role on disarmament verification and we will continue to press for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the start of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament and increased transparency and trust between Nuclear Weapons States in order to develop the global conditions in which nuclear armed states feel confident enough to relinquish their weapons.

Religious Freedom

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has held recent round-table meetings on freedom of religion or belief with interested stakeholders; if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister with responsibility for human rights, Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, has hosted two roundtables on FoRB to date. The first roundtable on 23 October 2017 looked at Burma in the light of the Rohingya crisis. The second roundtable on 12 December examined the role of women in tackling religiously motivated violent extremism. These roundtables have been excellent opportunities for the minister and officials to hear the perspectives of faith leaders. Officials are currently identifying a date and topic for the next roundtable.

Bermuda: LGBT People

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the status of  LGBT+ rights in Bermuda.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Bermudian counterpart on same-sex marriage legislation.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Domestic Partnership Act will withdraw the entitlement for same sex couples to marry and replace it with a provision for domestic partnerships for all couples, regardless of gender. Same sex couples entering into a 'domestic partnership' will be entitled to the same benefits as married couples. Those who have been legally married in Bermuda since the Supreme Court decision in May 2017, will retain their married status and have the same legal rights as those in domestic partnerships. The Supreme Court ruling permitted same sex couples in Bermuda to marry, but it did not address the entitlement of same sex couples to the same benefits as opposite sex married couples. The Act now put those rights on a clear statutory footing. Less than a year ago, same sex couples had no legal recognition at all under Bermudian law.The Minister for the Commonwealth and the UN raised the issue of human rights including LGBT rights and the need to ensure that our collective human rights obligations are upheld, in his meeting with the Bermuda Premier in October 2017, and at the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council in November 2017.Officials have engaged on a regular basis with the Government of Bermuda, and with all of the Overseas Territories to encourage and promote LGBT equality.

UN Human Rights Council

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the Government’s priorities are for the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2018.

Mark Field: The UK is strongly committed to the protection and promotion of human rights worldwide. As such, the government's priority for all sessions of the UN Human Rights Council is to ensure that it holds to account those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, that it effectively addresses threats to human rights, and strengthens safeguards and protections for the future.At the 37th session, the UK will again table a resolution on Syria and host a panel event considering the impact of attacks against schools on access to education, and will negotiate resolutions on Burma, Iran, DPRK, Libya, South Sudan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, among others. Thematic resolutions will include texts on privacy, torture, and freedom of religion or belief.

Turkey: Fracking

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in the Turkish Government on the Turkish Navy's obstruction of vessels involved in hydrocarbon extraction in the eastern Mediterranean.

Sir Alan Duncan: We recognise the Republic of Cyprus’ sovereign rights to its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and to exploit its natural resources. We have discussed recent developments with all sides, including Turkey, with a view to encouraging a resolution.We urge all parties to avoid any actions that risk escalating tensions in the region or could have a negative impact on the prospects for a Cyprus Settlement. Instead, we urge them to look for ways by which development of hydrocarbons can support the search for a settlement, for the benefit of all Cypriots.

Saudi Arabia: European Fighter Aircraft

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans he and his ministerial colleagues have to discuss further sales of BAE Systems' Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during his visit to the UK in March 2018.

Alistair Burt: ​Discussions with the Saudi Arabian authorities on a further purchase of Typhoon aircraft remain ongoing. British Ministers have supported these discussions when appropriate.

Sudan: Churches

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise with his counterpart in the Government of Sudan the recent demolition of an evangelical church in the Khartoum suburb of Haj Yousif.

Harriett Baldwin: ​We remain concerned at the infringements of religious freedoms, including the demolition of churches, and will continue to raise our concerns with the Government of Sudan as part of our regular dialogue on human rights. Promoting freedom of religion or belief as a means of enhancing tolerance and inclusion will remain a key part of our ongoing engagement with the Government of Sudan.

Nigeria: Christianity

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the United Nations on the recent cases of the murders of Christians in the states of Adamawa, Nasarawa and Benue in Nigeria to ensure that those responsible are apprehended as a matter of urgency.

Harriett Baldwin: We are concerned by clashes involving pastoralists and local farmers of all faiths. We judge that the best approach is to raise our concerns bilaterally at State and Federal government levels. We welcome President Buhari's commitment to focus on assisting the affected communities, bring perpetrators to justice and examine longer-term peaceful solutions to the conflict.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to meet with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture to discuss the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Alistair Burt: We remain very concerned about all dual nationals detained in Iran, and continue to take action in line with what we believe will produce the best outcomes in their cases.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to secure consular access to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Alistair Burt: ​We continue to raise the cases of all our dual-national detainees with the Iranian government at every opportunity. This includes requesting consular access to Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Most recently, on 21 February, I met Deputy Foreign Minister Araghchi where I reiterated the importance of all our cases.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the civil war in Syria on civilians in Idlib and Ghouta.

Alistair Burt: ​An estimated 400,000 people (including 200,000 children) trapped in Eastern Ghouta are suffering from indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery shelling which, as well as destroying many homes, have struck schools and medical facilities. Over 700 people are reported to remain in need of urgent medical treatment. Over 2.5 million people live in the Idlib area, including over 1.1 million Internally Displaced People. Intensification of hostilities has displaced approximately 270,000 people within Idlib since 15 December 2017. Already this year the UN report at least nine attacks on medical facilities, in some cases hospitals which were treating casualties wounded in attacks on other medical facilities were then struck. We call on the regime to end these attacks and allow full humanitarian access.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if the Government will make urgent representations to the (a) Government of Russia and (b) UN on reports of the recent escalation in bombardment of civilians in Eastern Ghouta.

Alistair Burt: The UK works closely with the UN on all aspects of Syria policy and has discussed the situation on the ground, including the situation in Eastern Ghouta, with UN representatives regularly. We also raise the situation on the ground at every opportunity with Russian interlocutors through our Embassy in Moscow, discussions in the UN Security Council and the International Syria Support Group Task Forces in Geneva. We have raised the the appalling situation in Eastern Ghouta with urgency will continue to call on Russia to use its influence to stop these atrocities.

Chemical Weapons

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what protocols are in available to his Department to raise breaches of the (a) Geneva Gas Protocol and (b) Chemical Weapons Convention with a fellow member of NATO; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: All NATO members are States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention and under a consequent legal obligation not to develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or use chemical weapons. We have seen no substantive evidence to support allegations of a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention of this nature by any NATO member at any time.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department  has taken to support (a) YPG and (b) Kurdish forces to combat Daesh in Syria in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: ​As part of the Global Coalition, the UK has provided military support to the Syrian Democratic Forces in the fight against Daesh. This has taken the form of air strikes to support the campaign to liberate Raqqa and other areas of Syria.

Syria: Chemical Weapons

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations have been made to his Department by human rights organisations on the use of chemical gas on civilians in Afrin; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Turkish Government on allegations of the use of chemical gas against civilians in Afrin; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign Secretary has received no specific representations by human rights organisations about chemical weapons use in Afrin nor have we seen any substantive evidence to support allegations of chemical weapons use by Turkish Forces in Afrin. Where there is credible evidence of chemical weapons use, we raise concerns accordingly. The UK condemns all use of chemical weapons in any circumstances, and works with international partners to identify and hold to account those responsible.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Secretary of State for International Development on the provision of humanitarian aid to (a) YPG and (b) the Kurdish community in Syria; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We recognise that Kurdish people in Syria have suffered during the conflict, alongside many other Syrians, primarily through the brutality of both the Assad regime and terrorist groups such as Daesh. As such, Syrian Kurds have been amongst the recipients of UK aid in our largest ever response to a humanitarian crisis £2.46 billion committed in total.

Department of Health and Social Care

Abortion

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Health, what clinical guidance advises on (a) at what stage of pregnancy anaesthetic is applied to a fetus before an abortion procedure and (b) for which kind of abortion procedures anaesthetic is applied.

Jackie Doyle-Price: To support clinical practice, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists provides guidance on the use of anaesthesia in abortion procedures in guidelines on The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion and Fetal Awareness: Review of Research and Recommendations for Practice, which can be viewed online at: https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/abortion-guideline_web_1.pdf and https://www.rcog.org.uk/globalassets/documents/guidelines/rcogfetalawarenesswpr0610.pdf

Dementia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with dementia after they retire from work; and what assessment he has made of the connection between retirement and the onset of dementia.

Caroline Dinenage: Improving the care and support for people of all ages with dementia is a priority for this Government. That is why, in February 2015, we published the Challenge on Dementia 2020, which sets out the broad vision for improving dementia care, support, awareness and research by 2020. It is for clinical commissioning groups and local authorities, working together, to ensure that the high quality, personalised services envisaged by the Challenge are delivered for people with dementia and their carers. Public Health England has made dementia risk reduction one of its key public health priorities, with the aim of reducing the prevalence and incidence of dementia amongst 65-74 year olds. A key element of risk reduction is the NHS Health Check Scheme though which patients aged 65-74 have the opportunity to discuss the signs and symptoms of dementia with their doctor and to be signposted to memory services if appropriate. We have made no recent assessment of the connection between retirement and the onset of dementia.

Mental Health Services

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS mental health and health trusts are required to inform his Department of their capacity to admit patients with very specific mental health needs to places where appropriate care is available; and whether his Department issues guidelines to such trusts on the maximum distance from a patient's home and families such patients can be so placed.

Jackie Doyle-Price: For those services where NHS England holds direct commissioning responsibility via its Specialised Commissioning function, providers work with the Specialised Commissioning Teams to manage local capacity and ensure patients are treated as close to home as possible. Where this is not possible every effort is taken to bring the patient back as close to home as possible as soon as possible. This work is complemented by NHS England delivering on its commitments to increase the number of beds for mothers and babies and for children and young people. The aim of this work is to align provision to population needs. Further work is underway with partner organisations such as Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service to similarly align adult secure beds to local population need and minimise out of area referrals. For non-specialist inpatient care (adult acute beds) commissioned by local clinical commissioning groups, a new dataset has been established to provide transparency of system pressures by reporting monthly about the number of people who are sent out of area (i.e. indicating a lack of capacity locally). There is a national ambition to end the practice of sending people out of area inappropriately by 2021, ensuring that people can always access a bed locally when they need to. The monthly reports, which show the definition of out of area placements, reporting and data quality increasing, can be found at the following link: http://content.digital.nhs.uk/oaps There is no prescribed distance of what constitutes an out of area placement. The national definition (published by the Department) was consulted on widely, including large service user groups. There was clear consensus that a definition should not emphasise a particular distance but rather requires local and clinical interpretation, supported by a set of key principles which focus on the importance of maintaining continuity of care and connection to family, friends and local support networks.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Independent review of Early Access to Medicines Scheme, published in March 2016, what reforms his Department has made to the early access to medicines scheme since the publication of that report.

Steve Brine: Since the publication of the independent review of the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) the Government has made a number of improvements. Partners have worked together to provide updated guidance on the benefits and entry requirements for EAMS and are developing further guidance on collecting real world data in the scheme to support the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence appraisal. Furthermore, the EAMS task group exists to provide a forum for industry to engage with and make suggestions to the Government, the devolved administrations and arm’s length bodies regarding EAMS, as per the recommendations of the 2016 review.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to improve the effectiveness of the early access to medicines scheme.

Steve Brine: A support scheme to fund evidence collection in the Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) by small to medium size pharmaceutical companies will be launched soon. In addition, the members EAMS task group will continue to collaborate to improve existing processes and create more learning materials for those involved in the scheme. Since EAMS was launched in 2014, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority has awarded 50 promising innovative medicines designations and 18 positive scientific opinions as part of the scheme.

Prisons: Health Services

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what funding has been allocated to each prison for healthcare in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the formula for mental health funding for clinical commissioning groups to take greater account of (a) inequality, (b) deprivation, (c) the mental health challenges of different ethnic groups, (d) poverty, and (e) population increases; and if he will make a statement.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Advisory Committee on Resource Allocation (ACRA) provides recommendations and advice on the target, relative geographical distribution of funding for health services in England, given the objectives of the funding formula. It is supported by a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and a team of analysts in NHS England. ACRA is an independent, expert committee, comprising mainly of general practitioners, public health experts, National Health Service managers and academics. This group makes recommendations for changes to the weighted capitation formula. The allocation of funding to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is informed by the estimation of the relative health needs of local areas, based on a set of funding formulae. The formulae are based on independent academic research and include the factors statistically associated with higher or lower need per head for NHS services. These formulae produce a target allocation, or 'fair share' for each area, based on a complex assessment of factors such as demography, morbidity, deprivation, and the unavoidable cost of providing services in different areas. Once national budgets are set, CCG funding is targeted using a set of 'weighted capitation' formulae which help us estimate health needs in different local areas. As the need for different types of health services varies, there are separate formulae for each of the CCG core responsibilities, specialised services and primary medical care. Within CCG core responsibilities there are separate formulae for general and acute, mental health and maternity services. Allocations based on the formulae have been made until 2020/21.

Cycling

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with representatives of cycling organisations in the last twelve months.

Steve Brine: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has not had any discussions with representatives of cycling organisations in the last 12 months.

Hospitals: Finance

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what financial support is available from the Government for hospitals that are placed in special measures.

Caroline Dinenage: Trusts placed in Special Measures for Quality are given access to a central NHS Improvement support budget to fund a number of support options, such as diagnostic tools, buddying arrangements with high performing trusts, and packages of support to tackle particular areas of concern identified by the Care Quality Commission. Whilst the level of support will depend on the particular needs of a trust, NHS Improvement would expect that a trust might receive around £500,000 in a financial year from this central budget. Trusts placed in Special Measures for Finance are provided with a package of support from NHS Improvement including an experienced Financial Improvement Director, as well as expert support from a dedicated NHS Improvement team. These resources work with trusts to oversee and support the implementation of a set of accelerated and intensive actions to support the development and delivery of financial recovery plans, while maintaining or improving quality. This support is provided at no cost to trusts.

General Practitioners

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to GPs to promote participation in sport to their patients.

Steve Brine: In 2017 Public Health England and Sport England established a co-funded, multi-component partnership called the Moving Healthcare Professional Programme (MHPP) which increases awareness and skills of health professionals to embed activity within routine care. A component of MHPP includes the peer-to-peer Clinical Champions work-stream which is focused on developing the skills of health professionals to deliver brief advice on physical activity as part of routine care. This programme has trained over 5,000 healthcare professionals across the whole programme, the majority of whom are general practitioners in training. In 2013, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published guidance recommending that healthcare professionals integrate brief advice on physical activity into routine clinical practice. The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ guidelines for physical activity include daily or weekly quantities of physical activity of at least moderate intensity, for example 150 minutes per week for adults.

Colorectal Cancer: Screening

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timescale is for the introduction of the Faecal Immunochemical Test to the bowel screening programme.

Steve Brine: NHS England remains committed to the implementation of Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) within the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme from 2018. During 2018, NHS England will finalise a number of practical steps to ensure that when Faecal Immunochemical Test is implemented, it is sustainable. This includes working with Public Health England, who will be ensuring that the practical arrangements for managing the production and distribution of FIT kits are in place, and working with local providers to ensure sufficient workforce capacity is in place to deliver FIT and save lives. These practical steps will enable NHS England to confirm the specific date in 2018 when FIT will replace Faecal Occult Blood testing.

Suicide: Young People

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of suicides of people under 25 years of age.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We updated the Cross-Government National Suicide Prevention Strategy in 2017 to strengthen delivery of its key areas for action which includes reducing suicide in high risk groups such as middle-aged and young men and tailoring approaches to reduce suicide in groups with specific mental health needs such as children and young people. The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health (2016) required all local areas to have in place multi-agency suicide prevention plans to ensure local services, who may come into contact with people at risk of suicide, work together to implement tailored actions to reduce suicide in their communities. Almost every local area has a plan in place and we will be working with local areas to quality assure their plans. We are investing £25 million between 2018-20 to support suicide prevention within National Health Service Sustainability and Transformation Plan areas. The Government is taking wider action to improve the mental health of children and young people, which includes £1.4 billion of investment up to 2020. We are investing £400 million to improve mental health crisis care in the community and £247 million to deliver mental health liaison services in every acute hospital by 2020. We published a joint health and education Children and Young People’s Mental Health Green Paper in December 2017 available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/transforming-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-provision-a-green-paperThis sets out ambitious proposals to improve mental health services which include:- creating a new mental health workforce of community-based mental health support teams;- ensuring every school and college will be encouraged to appoint a designated lead for mental health; and- piloting a four-week waiting time standard for NHS children and young people’s mental health services. We are also rolling out Mental Health First Aid training to every secondary school and will begin rolling training out to all primary schools from this year to equip teachers with the skills and confidence to provide support to children and young people who may be experiencing mental health problems.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of sleep-in back pay for social care providers in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Ashfield District Council area and (c) Nottinghamshire County Council area.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not centrally held. Social care is usually commissioned by local authorities but it can also be commissioned by the National Health Service, or paid for by self-funding individuals. The Government recognises the pressures these liabilities are placing on providers of social care, and we are exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision: a green paper, published by his Department in December 2017, if his Department will consider taking steps for (a) children in care and (b) children from deprived areas when implementing actions arising from that green paper.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We know that children in care and children in deprived areas face particular difficulties which may impact their mental health. The proposals set out in the Green Paper aim to improve support for all children who need mental health support, and will in particular help those groups with higher incidences of mental health issues, including children in care and children from deprived areas. We are keen to ensure that the Green Paper proposals also align with the various pieces of work we are taking forward across Government to support the mental health and wellbeing needs of looked after children. Through the public online consultation for the Green Paper, which is open until 2 March, we are seeking views on how looked after children can easily access the right support and whether deprivation should be a key factor in selecting the trailblazer areas. Trailblazer areas will trial the mental health support teams and waiting time standard pilots (as set out in the Green Paper) and will also test how the mental health support teams can link to the work of other professionals to enhance support for vulnerable children. The outcome of the consultation will inform how we take forward and implement the Green Paper proposals, and how we select the trailblazer areas.

WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to (a) ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and (b) deposit the instrument of ratification at the UN in New York.

Steve Brine: The United Kingdom ratified the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) on the 16 December 2004. The WHO FCTC adopted the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products on 12 November 2012. The Government is fully committed to the Protocol. It is current UK Government policy that international treaties will not be ratified until all the legislation required for implementation has been passed by Parliament. A Command Paper setting out the UK’s plans to ratify the World Health Organization Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products now needs to be laid before Parliament. Preparations, led by HM Revenue and Customs, are underway and they expect to proceed shortly.

NHS Trusts: Recruitment

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide additional funding to NHS trusts to support increased recruitment of clinical staff.

Stephen Barclay: It is the responsibility of National Health Service trusts to have staffing arrangements in place that deliver safe and effective care. This includes allocating resources and recruiting the staff needed to support these levels and meet local needs. The Government previously committed to providing the NHS with an additional £10 billion, in real terms, by 2020/21 and recent commitments mean that by 2019/20, the NHS it will have received an additional £2.8 billion of revenue funding for frontline services – including staffing - than previously planned over the period. The Government is also taking a number of actions to increase the supply of NHS clinical staff who will be available for recruitment into the NHS. This includes expanding undergraduate medical school places and nurse training places by 25% and broadening routes into nursing.

Influenza: Vaccination

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to ensure that  medical practices which amend their flu vaccine orders for winter 2018-19 will not be penalised as a result by suppliers.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on medical practices of the recent revision of guidance for ordering flu vaccines.

Steve Brine: NHS England wrote to general practitioners and community pharmacists on 5 February to advise on which vaccines should be ordered for the 2018-19 flu season. This was based on new advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, evidence from Public Health England and the availability of a new adjuvanted trivalent vaccine (aTiv) for the 2018/19 season. Vaccine suppliers have provided assurance that they have supported the amendment of existing orders, many of which are provisional, without penalty. Suppliers of the recommended vaccines, aTIV and quadrivalent influenza vaccine, have extended ordering windows and maintained the prices and discounts available to practices. Providers will continue to be reimbursed for the vaccines they procure and use during the 2018-19 flu season in the usual way. The recent advice was issued to ensure that eligible patients are given the most effective vaccines to protect them from flu and its complications in the 2018-19 flu season.

Soft Drinks: Children

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the sale of energy drinks to children similar to those recently brought forward by the Lithuanian Government in that country.

Steve Brine: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for West Lancashire on 15 January 2018 to Questions 121787 and 121788.

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the total sleep-in back pay for which care providers in (a) Scunthorpe constituency, (b) the North East Lincolnshire Council area and (c) the North Lincolnshire Council area will be liable.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not centrally held. Social care is usually commissioned by local authorities but it can also be commissioned by the National Health Service, or paid for by self-funding individuals. The Government recognises the pressures these liabilities are placing on providers of social care, and we are exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust: Complaints

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on the number of formal complaints University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust received in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Digital is the organisation responsible for collecting and publishing NHS complaints data. These data were collected annually until 1 April 2015. NHS Digital now collects these data quarterly. The data provided covers the period 1 April to 31 March in each year. Because of changes to the method and frequency of the data collection NHS Digital currently classify data from April 2015 onwards as ‘experimental’ so this data cannot be compared with previous years. University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust received the following complaints each year from 2010. 2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-162016-17484512497483490479574607 A total of 312 complaints were received covering Quarters 1 and 2 of the 2017-18 period.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients were conveyed to hospital by a police vehicle in England and Wales in each year since 2014.

Stephen Barclay: The data requested is not held centrally.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions (a) he and (b) officials of his Department have held with Care Commissioning Groups on those groups' duties under section 140 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England is responsible for the commissioning of mental health services to meet the needs of their areas. NHS England has held discussions with various clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) regarding their duties under section 140 of the Mental Health Act (MHA). CCGs must comply with their legal duties, including those under the Mental Health Act 1983. The Act’s Code of Practice, last revised in 2015, clarifies the duties under section 140. It is for the Care Quality Commission (CQC), as part of its regulatory function, to monitor how the Act is used in practice. NHS England is currently engaged in discussions with the CQC about section 140 in the context of the CQC’s work to evaluate the MHA Code of Practice, as commissioned by the Department. This is likely to result in further discussions with CCGs. The Act is currently subject to an Independent Review, chaired by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, that will report in the autumn.

Compulsorily Detained Psychiatric Patients

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Care Commissioning Groups have not notified the local social services authority of NHS Trusts (a) of the reception of patients in cases of special urgency and (b) of the provision of accommodation or facilities designed so as to be specially suitable for patients who have not attained the age of 18 years under section 140 of the Mental Health Act 1983.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not held centrally.

Mental Health Services: Staff

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many approved mental health professionals there were in each local authority area of England and Wales in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2018 to Question 121741, if he will publish a list of the names and catchment areas of the 70 new or enhanced community eating disorder services for children and young people.

Jackie Doyle-Price: For children and young people aged between eight and 18 years, the Government is investing £150 million to expand eating disorder services and staff for 70 extended or new established community eating disorder services. The Royal College of Psychiatrists is maintaining a directory of community eating disorder services for children and young people. This is available at: http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/workinpsychiatry/qualityimprovement/ccqiprojects/childandadolescent/communitycamhsqncc/qncc-ed/directoryofservices.aspx Many clinical commissioning groups have made available details of coverage of community eating disorder services in joint agency Local Transformation Plans, these plans are now part of Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

NHS: Standards

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the reason is for the delay in the publication of NHS Improvement's Quarterly performance of the NHS provider sector: quarter 3 2017/18 due to be published on 19 February 2018.

Stephen Barclay: Last year NHS Improvement set out their intended publication timeline for the third and fourth quarter NHS provider sector performance reports for 2017/18. NHS Improvement has set an ambitious timetable and these reports require a significant amount of information to be gathered from the sector and then analysed. The timetable for publication was extended by two days and the quarter three 2017/18 report was published on Wednesday 21 February. https://improvement.nhs.uk/resources/quarterly-performance-nhs-provider-sector-quarter-3-201718/

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the total sleep-in back pay liability for care providers in (a) the Rotherham constituency and (b) Rotherham Council.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not centrally held. Social care is usually commissioned by local authorities but it can also be commissioned by the National Health Service, or paid for by self-funding individuals. The Government recognises the pressures these liabilities are placing on providers of social care, and we are exploring options to minimise any impact on the sector.

Department for International Development

Gaza: Borders

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect on health outcomes of the time taken to grant exit permits for Palestinians in Gaza seeking medical treatment elsewhere in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or abroad; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently reported that 2017 saw the lowest rate of approvals of security permits for patients wishing to access healthcare outside of Gaza since WHO began monitoring in 2008, with 54% of patient applications approved on time. They report this has resulted in delays in care for patients, with potentially life threatening consequences. We continue to monitor the situation in Gaza closely and call on the Israeli government to ease restrictions further and for Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt to work together to ensure a durable solution for Gaza.

Gaza: Borders

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent estimate she has made of the number of humanitarian and development items that have been delayed in entering or denied entry to Gaza by the Israeli authorities in the last 12 months.

Alistair Burt: The Department is aware of delays and denials of entry of items into Gaza. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is not currently consolidating data on these delays. We have requested UN OCHA to establish a mechanism for the collection of this data. DFID enables reconstruction efforts in Gaza through our support to the Materials Monitoring Unit of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism to monitor the import, storage, supply and use of construction materials. We welcome recent Israeli announcements to ease restrictions on the importation of material into Gaza for much needed infrastructure projects such as the proposed Central Gaza Desalination Plant and other waste water plants under construction, which many international donors are supporting.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of the reduction of bilateral funding from her Department to the Occupied Palestinian Territories from £83,358,000 in 2014 to £22,729,000 in 2016.

Alistair Burt: The figures quoted in the question are from the Statistics for International Development (SID) publication (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development). SID publishes the UK’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) on a calendar year basis in line with the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, Development Assistance Committee’s definitions. However, DFID allocates budgets on a financial year basis (1 April – 31 March). This can result in some discrepancies between financial data presented according to the calendar year compared to the financial year. In 2014 and 2015 DFID’s spend in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) spiked due to our provision of immediate humanitarian assistance for those affected by the Gaza conflict in the summer of 2014 and subsequent early recovery and reconstruction assistance. In the 2016/17 financial year DFID provided over £68 million in funding to the OPTs to help build Palestinian institutions, deliver essential services and support economic development. We remain committed to providing support to the OPTs.

Overseas Aid

Sir Patrick McLoughlin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding from the public purse was allocated to the international aid budget in each of the last 15 years; and what each amount was as a percentage of GDP.

Harriett Baldwin: In line with the reporting requirements of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) the 0.7% Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment is expressed as a percentage of gross national income rather than gross domestic product. The table below shows net ODA from 2002 to 2016, the latest year for which data is available, alongside of which is the ODA:GNI ratio for these years.  YearUK Net ODA, £mODA:GNI ratio (%) Current methodology in given year20023,2810.3120033,8470.3420044,3020.3620055,9260.4720066,7700.5120074,9210.3620086,3560.4320097,3010.5120108,5290.5720118,6290.5620128,8020.57201311,4070.70201411,7000.70201512,1360.70201613,3810.70

Disaster Relief

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Start Network on humanitarian emergencies and the (a) financial and (b) logistic support needed to address them.

Alistair Burt: The Start Network manages the Start Fund, a pooled fund for humanitarian response that focuses on rapid response to underfunded, and small-medium scale emergencies. Since the START Network’s inception, DFID has been the largest donor to the Start Fund, contributing £46 million since 2014, and has helped the START Network grow in size and influence.DFID sits on the Strategic Advisory Board of the START Fund Council which provides strategic oversight of the fund. The Department attended the most recent Start Fund Council meeting in the Hague in November 2017.

Department for Education

Pre-school Education: Standards

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children (a) who are not eligible for free school meals and (b) children in receipt of free school meals in each local authority have achieved at least the expected level in the Early Years Foundation stage early learning goals for (i) listening and attention, (ii) understanding, (iii) speaking, (iv) reading, (v) writing and (vi) numeracy in each of the last three years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is in the attached table: ‘Achievement in early years foundation stage profile teacher assessments by free school meal eligibility and local authority’. 



Attach 1
(Excel SpreadSheet, 91.69 KB)

Teachers: Training

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have applied for the (a) School Direct (Salaried) and (b) School Direct (Non-Salaried) programmes in England in each year since 2014.

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have been accepted onto the (a) School Direct (Salaried) and (b) School Direct (Non-Salaried) programme in England in each year since 2014.

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the drop-out rate has been of trainees who start on the School Direct training programme over the last twelve months for which data is available.

Nick Gibb: Data on the number of applicants to Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is collected by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), which administers applications to ITT and publishes data about applications and acceptances. Published applicant and application statistics from UCAS are available at: https://www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-teacher-training-statistical-releases.The number of trainees starting School Direct (Salaried) and School Direct (Fee) courses in England is published in the annual ITT Census. The latest publication relates to academic year 2017/18. Data in the academic years from 2013/14 are available in previous ITT Census publications. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training.The number of final year trainees on School Direct (Salaried) and School Direct (Fee) courses, the number of trainees awarded Qualified Teacher Status, and the number of trainees employed in a teaching post within six months of qualifying, is published in the annual ITT Performance Profiles publication. The latest available data relates to academic year 2015/16, and a time series to academic year 2012/13 is included in Table 5a of the Main Tables, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training.

Teachers: Training

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many School Direct (Salaried) programme places there are planned to be in each region of England for the academic year 2018-19.

Nick Gibb: For the 2018/19 academic year, recruitment to School Direct (salaried) is unrestricted in the majority of subjects, which means that schools are able to recruit to local need as opposed to targets set by the Government. Consequently, at this stage of the 2018/19 recruitment cycle, we are unable to provide the total number of School Direct (salaried) programme places planned for each region of England. The Department expects School Direct training places to be available across all regions of England.The Department has allocated School Direct (salaried) places in Primary and PE in 2018/19, where recruitment is fixed. The table below sets out the distribution of these places by region.RegionFixed School Direct (salaried) allocated places for 2018/19East Midlands81East of England351London936North East14North West41South East492South West82West Midlands84Yorkshire and The Humber121Grand Total2202

Teachers: Labour Turnover

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the retention rate of teachers and trainee teachers has been in each region of England in the last twelve months for which data is available.

Nick Gibb: Information on teachers leaving all state-funded schools in England, in the years following qualification, is available in Table 8 of the publication, ‘School Workforce in England, November 2016’ and can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-workforce-in-england-november-2016. Information at regional level for 2010-15 is published as part of the statistical release, ‘Local analysis of Teacher Workforce: 2010 to 2015’ tables 2.2a and 2.2b. This publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-analysis-of-teacher-workforce-2010-to-2015. Information on the outcomes for trainee teachers is available as part of the publication, ‘Initial teacher training performance profiles: 2015 to 2016’, which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-performance-profiles-2015-to-2016.

Disabled Students' Allowances

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the change in the number of disabled students taking up the specialist equipment allowance element of the disabled student allowance scheme.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The most recent data shows that, for full-time undergraduate students domiciled in England, 4,600 fewer students were in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs) equipment in 2015/16 than in 2014/15. The full data is available at: http://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/financial-support-awarded/england-higher-education.aspx. This fall was expected as the £200 student contribution to the costs of computer hardware took effect from September 2015. We are keen to better understand the impact of DSAs on eligible students, including that of recent DSA reforms. We have recently commissioned a research project to explore this and we will respond to the research findings when they are available in spring 2018.

Teachers: Training

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which initial teacher trainee bursaries are currently available; and what the value is of those bursaries.

Nick Gibb: The attached tables list the initial teacher training bursaries for 2018/19 in full.



Initial teacher training bursaries for 2018/19 
(Word Document, 25.12 KB)

Apprentices: Small Businesses

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to protect the number of apprenticeships available with non-levy paying small employers in England.

Anne Milton: The department has recently awarded providers across the country with initial awards totalling approximately £485 million to deliver apprenticeship training for non-levy paying employers. Non-levy paying employers benefit from government co-investment of 90 per cent of apprenticeship training and assessment costs. Additionally, 100 per cent of the cost for training is covered for small employers with fewer than 50 employees who take on apprentices that are 16 to 18 years old, 19 to 24 year old care leavers or 19 to 24 year old with an Education and Health Care Plan.

Education: Social Mobility

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department’s paper, Unlocking Talent, Fulfilling Potential: a plan for improving social mobility through education, published in December 2017, what assessment he has made of the potential role for youth full-time social action in the proposed transition year.

Anne Milton: The government wants all young people who are able, to have the opportunity to achieve qualifications at level 3. Some school leavers are not yet ready for that step, and the department is developing a high quality offer for all young people including a transition offer for those who have the potential to study for a T level but who are not yet ready to do so.The transition offer will be a flexible programme with a strong focus on mathematics and English and all suggestions are welcome for what could be included in the programme. The department has recently sought views through the public consultation on the implementation of T levels, including what other support should be considered as part of the programme, more details will be published in the spring.

Academies: Finance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the financial position of the 10 largest academy trusts on the quality of their educational provision.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education, through its Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs), monitors the educational performance of all academy trusts. Similarly, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) monitors the financial position and viability of all trusts. Working very closely together, RSCs and the ESFA take robust action in accordance with their responsibilities when they need to.

Students: Counselling

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve access to on-campus counselling for students at Universities in England.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The department is working closely with Universities UK (UUK) on the ongoing programme of work on Mental Health in Higher Education. UUK has worked in partnership with the Institute for Public Policy Research to strengthen the evidence-base on mental health in higher education and launched their Step Change programme on 4 September 2017. The Step Change framework offers detailed guidance to Higher Education Institutions, including a strategy checklist for university leaders(http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/stepchange/Pages/checklist.aspx). The Children and Young People’s Mental Health green paper, open for consultation until 2 March, outlines government’s plans to set up a new national strategic partnership focused on improving the mental health of 16-25 year olds, encouraging more coordinated action, experimentation and robust evaluation of mental health services. The green paper also includes a proposal to encourage local coalitions between tertiary education providers, local authorities, and health and care commissioners and providers. In addition, the Higher Education Funding Council for England Catalyst Fund commits up to £30 million funding per year for collaborative projects that drive innovation in the higher education sector, enhance excellence and efficiency in higher education and support innovative solutions. For example, a project led by the University of the West of England with UUK, Cardiff University, York University and Student Minds will raise the importance of mental wellbeing in the sector.

Students: Mental Health Services

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will bring forward proposals to encourage universities and other higher education providers to improve access to mental health services for students.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In higher education, there is already much work underway to improve the quality of mental health services for students, alongside services provided by the NHS, including through the NHS programme Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. The recent green paper on children and young people’s mental health outlines plans to set up a new national strategic partnership focused on improving the mental health of 16-25 year olds. This includes a proposal to encourage local coalitions between tertiary education providers, local authorities, and health and care commissioners and providers. The new partnership is also likely to look to support and build on sector-led initiatives in higher education such as University UK’s Step Change project. This calls on higher education leaders to adopt mental health as a strategic priority and adopt a whole-university approach to mental health, embedding it across all policies, cultures, curricula and practice. As autonomous and independent organisations, higher education institutions (HEIs) determine what welfare and counselling services they need to provide to their students. Each institution will be best placed to identify the needs of their particular student body, including taking actions in line with any legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. A number of HEIs currently make use of outsourced or external service provision such as 24/7 counselling or support service; online self-help services; a crisis line for signposting to out-of-hours support.

Special Educational Needs: Speech and Language Disorders

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has undertaken any consultation with the Communication Trust and its delivery partners on his plans to discontinue funding for specialist speech, language and communication support; and whether he will release the findings of any such consultation.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department for Education’s current one-year contract with I CAN, on behalf of The Communication Trust (TCT) is due to end, as planned, at the end of March 2018. We were clear with TCT at the beginning of the 2017-18 contract that the contract was for one year only.Over the last year, we have been working with TCT on the sustainability of their work beyond the contract period. We are also discussing with TCT how we will best ensure that all practitioners are able to make continued use of the wealth of materials, resources and training developed through this contract.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers in (a) the North East and (b) England are offering the 30-hours free childcare scheme with additional charges.

Nadhim Zahawi: Our statutory guidance and operational guidance are clear that government funding is intended to deliver 15 or 30 hours a week of free, high-quality, flexible childcare. It is not intended to cover the costs of meals, other consumables, additional hours or additional services.Providers can and should feel free to charge parents for meals, consumables (such as nappies and sun cream) and for additional activities (such as trips). But parents must not be required to pay any fee as a condition of taking up a free entitlement place, and must be offered alternative options.Where a parent chooses to pay for these, it is a private matter between the provider and the parent. Our guidance does not address how providers operate their private businesses over and above a child’s free hours.The evaluation of early delivery areas found that providers were willing and able to offer 30 hours, and that parents were not deterred from taking up their place by additional charges.

Special Educational Needs: Hearing Impairment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment of trends in the number of specialist teachers for deaf children in (a) West Midlands and (b) Coventry since 31 December 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The information on the number of specialist teachers for deaf children is not collected centrally.

Crafts: Education

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from the craft industry on craft education and the national curriculum.

Nick Gibb: The national curriculum provides many opportunities for pupils to develop knowledge and skills in a wide range of creative subjects, including art and design, music, and design and technology.The programme of study for art and design states that all pupils should become proficient in craft and design, and learn about great craft makers.The Department’s officials meet subject specific stakeholders regularly. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not yet had meetings with representatives from the craft industry on this issue.

Students: Loans

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 12 September 2017 to Question 7482, when his Department plans to announce plans to bring forward legislative proposals for the establishment of a Sharia-compliant alternative student finance product.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We understand the concern that some prospective students may be deterred from pursuing higher education because they are unable to use loans that bear interest.We are therefore continuing to work on an alternative student finance product that would avoid using interest. We have appointed specialist advisors from the Islamic Finance Council to help design a new system that can make maintenance and tuition fee payments and collect repayment contributions in a way that is both equivalent to the current system and compliant with the requirements of Islamic finance.This a complex area requiring careful consideration of a range of technical issues, including the nature of the accounting for the new arrangements, the degree of legal separation required for any fund, the treatment of cash flows, the nature of the commitments that a student will make under the new system, and the method for establishing equivalence of outcome, amongst others.We are making progress and expect to be able to provide an update in the summer, when we have clarity on what we need to do to introduce the alternative product.

Overseas Students: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether non-UK EU students who begin courses at universities in 2019-20 will continue to be treated as home students after the UK leaves the EU.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The government is listening to the sector’s concerns and has taken action to provide greater certainty about student funding for EU students. We have confirmed that current EU students and those starting courses at an English university or further education institution in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 academic years will continue to be eligible for student loans and home fee status for the duration of their course. Future arrangements for EU students starting courses after 2018/19, and who are not settled in the UK or on a pathway to settled status by the specified date, will need to be considered as part of wider discussions about the UK’s relationship with the EU. Applications for courses starting in 2019/20 do not open until September 2018, and we are working to ensure students applying have information well in advance of this date.

Student Wastage

Liz McInnes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of students entering (a) English and (b) Welsh universities in 2014 on a three-year course failed to complete their courses in 2017.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes statistics on students studying at UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). As part of the publication ‘Performance Indicators for Higher Education’, HESA estimate learning outcomes for UK domiciled full-time students starting first degree[1] courses. The table below shows the projected outcomes for those commencing their studies in 2014/15 at UK HEIs, by country of institution.Projected learning outcomes of UK domiciled full-time first degree entrantsUK Higher Education InstitutionsAcademic year 2014/15 Projected outcome (% of entrants)[2]Country of institutionDegreeNeither award nor transferOther awardTransferNot knownEngland80.710.33.75.10.2Northern Ireland84.310.92.12.60.1Scotland80.79.754.60.1Wales80.410.84.34.50.1Total UK80.810.33.850.2Source: HESA UK Performance Indicators (Non-Continuation), Table T5The table shows that even where a student does not complete their degree course, they may go on to achieve a different qualification or transfer to another higher education provider. Further information on how projected outcomes are defined and calculated by HESA can be found in the UK Performance Indicators Non-Continuation Publication at: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/performance-indicators/non-continuation-summary. Figures for entrants in the 2015/16 academic year will be published by HESA in March 2018. [1] Whilst the majority of full-time first degree courses are three year courses, this group will also include some individuals enrolled on four year courses (for example integrated masters degrees).[2] Percentages are rounded to one decimal place so may not sum exactly to 100.

Carillion

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of PwC, in its capacity as the liquidator of Carillion, in providing support for local authorities in their statutory obligations to schools to (a) transfer in-house and (b) re-procure with alternative providers, services affected by the liquidation of Carillion.

Nick Gibb: The Department has been working closely with the Cabinet Office and the Official Receiver who manages the relationship with PwC in their role as Special Managers.Our priority has been to ensure schools can continue to operate as usual. The Government is supporting the Official Receiver, so that services to schools and other public services can continue to be delivered.Local authorities (LA) and academy trusts are responsible for their own contracts. The Department has been working with LAs and academy trusts to make sure contingency plans are being implemented. Contingency plans vary according to circumstances, including bringing services in-house, sourcing alternative providers or the Official Receiver managing the transfer of Carillion contracts to new owners.The Department is continuing to monitor developments and will provide support where it is needed to help minimise any disruption.

Ministry of Justice

Tribunals: Gloucester

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how long the waiting list is for all tribunals in Gloucester by tribunal; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce that waiting time.

Lucy Frazer: Average time for disposals in the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal in Gloucester, for the period July – September 2017 was 24.6 weeks. The Social Security and Child Support Tribunal is the only Tribunal sitting in Gloucester. HMCTS have identified a number of initiatives including new approaches to listing, targeted case management and Judicial/Panel recruitment which should assist in reducing the average time for disposals.

Prison Service: Staff

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Band 2 to 5 staff have (a) resigned, (b) been regraded, (c) been transferred and (d) been dismissed from prisons in England and Wales in 2017.

Lucy Frazer: The number of band 2-5 staff in the Prison Service in England and Wales who have either resigned, transferred, been dismissed, or have been re-graded in 2017 are provided in the table below:Table 1: Number of band 2-5 Prison Service staff who have resigned, transferred, been dismissed, or re-graded, 01 January - 31 December 2017 Headcount of staff2Resignations1,742Dismissals419Transfers126Regraded11,972 1 Based on individuals whose new grade is classed as Band 2-5.2 An individual could appear in more than one category.

Ministry of Defence: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

Lucy Frazer: The following external recruitment agencies are used by the Ministry of Justice’s non-departmental public bodies.AudelissBrook StreetElizabeth Norman InternationalExcel RecruitmentGatenbySandersonHavas PeopleHays RecruitmentHudsonLa Fosse AssociatesMichael PageMorgan HuntSaxton BampfyldeSellick PartnershipSF Grouptmp.worldwideWhitehall and Industry Group

Prisoners' Release

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have left prison without having secured an (a) income and (b) home in the last 12 months; and what steps are being taken to reduce this number.

Lucy Frazer: Matched MOJ-DWP data indicates that 17% of those released from custody in 2011/12 were in P45 employment one year after release. More recent data from 2014/15 indicates that at a national level, 26.5% of prisoners were entering employment upon release, but this data was self-reported. In 2016/17, 30% of adult prisoners under CRC supervision were discharged to unsettled or unknown accommodation on their first night of release. We believe that everyone leaving custody should have a safe and suitable home to go to on release; having somewhere to live gives people a stable platform from which to access health services, hold down a job and reduces the likelihood of them reoffending. We also recognise the impact that employment on release has on the likelihood of a person reoffending, so we remain committed to offering better support to ex-offenders in all areas, including employment and accommodation. As a result of the probation reforms, all offenders now get targeted support before and after they leave prison to help them reintegrate into society. This comprises of help with securing or retaining employment, and working with local partners to help them find accommodation including, where necessary, emergency accommodation. Local authorities are statutorily responsible for working with and supporting an individual in order to assist them into securing settled accommodation. We are planning the New Futures Network which will focus on getting prisoners jobs on release by supporting empowered governors to broker relationships between prisons and employers more effectively. We are also working with DWP to clarify the roles and responsibilities of those bodies involved in offender rehabilitation. We are working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to deliver a joint strategy to improve access to housing for those being released from prison.

Offenders: Disclosure of Information

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to review the requirement for ex-offenders to disclose their past offences that resulted in a caution on documentation.

Lucy Frazer: Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, most convictions and all cautions will become “spent” after a specified period of time. That period varies according to the disposal or sentence imposed in respect of the offence. Where a caution or conviction has become spent, the offender is treated as rehabilitated in respect of that offence; that is, they will be treated as though they had not committed or been convicted of the offence. If a rehabilitated person is asked about previous cautions and convictions, they are entitled to treat the question as only relating to unspent cautions and is free to withhold the fact of that caution or conviction for most purposes. However, the ROA provides the Secretary of State with the power to exclude or modify certain protections of the Act such that spent cautions and convictions are nonetheless disclosable. These exceptions are set out in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, and include a number of roles and activities, for example those working with children or vulnerable adults. In our response to the Justice Committee’s report on the disclosure of youth criminal records, published on 31 January, the Government said that it would consider recommendations on the disclosure regime when litigation currently in the Supreme Court, which challenges aspects of the regime, is concluded.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will place a copy of Fire Research Station Report CR143/94, entitled Investigation of the behaviour of external cladding systems in fire: Report on 10 full-scale fire tests, in the Library.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Wolverhampton City Council: Local Government Finance

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes to the local government grant to City of Wolverhampton Council on that Council's ability to carry out its statutory duties.

Rishi Sunak: The 2018-19 local government finance settlement confirms that Wolverhampton will have access to £221.4 million in Core Spending Power - an increase of 1.8 per cent from 2017-18. Wolverhampton has core spending power per dwelling of £2,029 compared to an average for Metropolitan Districts of £1,786. Wolverhampton is also part of the West Midlands Combined Authority and is a 100 per cent business rates retention pilot, enabling the authority to benefit from an increased share of business rates growth across the pilot area.As part of my on going engagement with local government, I recently met with representatives of Wolverhampton Council to discuss the local government finance settlement and related matters.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2018 to Question 126930, what plans he has to adjust previously published statistics to ensure comparability over time.

Dominic Raab: As the Department's work to improve the statistics on quarterly house building progresses, revisions to the historic data will be made in accordance with the published revisions policy, which can be found at the following links.https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/house-building-statisticshttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/net-supply-of-housing

Carillion

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent steps he has taken to support local authorities affected by the collapse of Carillion; and if he will make a statement.

Rishi Sunak: The Department continues to work in partnership with the Local Government Association to closely monitor the situation. We remain in close contact with the relevant councils, and have confidence that authorities will continue to manage the situation and ensure that public services continue to be delivered with minimal disruption.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Public Appointments

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether a Director Economic Security and Prosperity has been appointed.

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he plans to appoint a Director, Economic Security and Prosperity; and if he will make a statement.

Guto Bebb: The post of Director of Economic, Security and Prosperity has been filled since its creation on 1 December 2017.

Explosives: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions explosive ordinance officers were deployed to deal with incidents in Northern Ireland between 1 July 2017 and 1 January 2018.

Mark Lancaster: Incidents requiring explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts in Northern Ireland are dealt with solely by military personnel. Between 1 July 2017 and 1 January 2018 EOD personnel have responded to 93 incidents in Northern Ireland.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: Scotland

Ross Thomson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will hold discussions with representatives of the Scottish Government on the effect of her policies on WASPI women in Scotland.

Guy Opperman: I have had regular correspondence with the Scottish Minister for Social Security on 16/07/2017, 25/08/17 and 05/02/18. As I said in my letter of 5th February, “Should the Scottish Government wish to exercise their considerable powers to provide financial support to those impacted by the changes to the State Pension age they are able to do so. This would be entirely a matter for them and the UK Government would not seek to stop them”.  There are no plans to meet with representatives of the Scottish Government to discuss this issue.

Department for Work and Pensions: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2018 to Question 123545, on Department for Work and Pensions: Procurement, what those contracts are for; and what the value of each such contract is.

Kit Malthouse: Question 123545 of 25 January 2018 asked how many contracts the Department for Work and Pensions held with government strategic suppliers. The attached table lists, by description and value, the contracts currently held with government strategic suppliers.



DWP Contracts with Government Strategic Supplier
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.19 KB)

Occupational Money Purchase Schemes

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is to present to Parliament, the secondary legislation required to enable Collective Defined Contribution pensions.

Guy Opperman: The Department is engaging with the very limited number of parties interested in delivering Collective Defined Contribution pensions. The Government is considering what, if any legislation would be appropriate and await detailed proposals once the parties have made their position clear. There is currently no timetable for presenting legislation to Parliament. The Department has recently responded to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.

Personal Independence Payment: Compensation

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will compensate claimants who have (a) fallen into debt and (b) accrued interest charges as a result of decisions which are overturned in her Department's review of personal independence payments.

Sarah Newton: I refer the Hon. Member to the statement made by myself, Official Report, 30 January 2018, Column 703.

Personal Income

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average net weekly household income was for people in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East, (d) London, (e) the South East, (f) England and (g) the UK in each year since 2010.

Kit Malthouse: National statistics on average net weekly equivalised household income are set out in the annual "Households Below Average Income" publication. The average net weekly equivalised household income is not available at local authority or constituency level in this publication because the survey sample sizes are too small to support the production of robust estimates at this geography (a and b). Latest 3-year estimates of the average net weekly equivalised household income for (c) the North East, (d) London, (e) the South East, (f) England and (g) the UK, in each year since 2010, are available in Table 2.5ts in the file “2_incomedistribution_timeseries” from the link below. Single year estimates for (g) the UK are also available in Table 2_1ts_Quintile. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/599136/hbai-2015-2016-supporting-ods-files.zip

State Retirement Pensions: Females

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints relating to women born in the 1950s and affected by changes in state pension age have been fully reviewed by the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Kit Malthouse: As of 20th February 2018, 45 complaints relating to women born in the 1950s and affected by changes in state pension, had been fully reviewed by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many complaints relating to women born in the 1950s who are affected by changes in state pension age are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Kit Malthouse: As of 20th February 2018 there were 1,800 complaints from women born in the 1950s who are affected by changes in state pension age awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager.

Independent Case Examiner

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, from what acceptance date the Independent Case Examiner's Office is allocating complaints to an investigation case manager.

Kit Malthouse: As at 20 February 2018, the Independent Case Examiner’s Office were allocating dedicated Investigation Case Managers:Disability, Pensions, Working Age and Debt Management complaints that were accepted on or after 22 November 2016.Provider complaints that were accepted on or after 24 November 2016Child Maintenance Group complaints that were accepted on or after 31 January 2017WASPI complaints that were accepted on or after 27 March 2017

Independent Case Examiner

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many disability, pensions, working age and debt management complaints are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Kit Malthouse: As at 20th February 2018 there were 523 Disability, Pensions, Working Age and Debt Management complaints (excluding those relating to changes in state pension retirement age) awaiting allocation to an Investigation Case Manager.

Children: Maintenance

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Child Maintenance Group complaints are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Kit Malthouse: At 20th February 2018 there were 252 Child Maintenance Group Complaints awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager.

Independent Case Examiner

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of her Department's service providers' complaints are awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager at the Independent Case Examiner's Office.

Kit Malthouse: At 20th February 2018, there were 256 service provider complaints awaiting allocation to an investigation case manager.

Funeral Payments: Eligibility

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2018 to Question 113185 on funerals: fees and charges, if she will place in the Library a copy of the criteria for judging applications for the first element of The Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments.

Kit Malthouse: The Department has adopted using electronic files as a way of disseminating guidance for some time. The decision makers guide is an extensive product that is regularly updated and using this medium is the most practical way to ensure that the guidance is always up to date and accessible by our decision makers. The criteria for the for assessing applications for Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payments can be found in in Chapter 39 of the Decision Makers Guide. Social Fund Payments at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/572416/dmgch39.pdf

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that vulnerable people affected by the Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations 2017 (a) receive face-to-face advice on and (b) fully understand the effect of the new provisions; and if she will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: The Department has developed specific processes to identify and provide additional support to vulnerable customers during the transition to SMI loans. If the customer has an Appointee on our records, we will write to this person to establish if the claimant is capable of undertaking the discussion and making an informed decision. A legally appointed Deputy is required to undertake a financial decision and the Department can appoint such a representative where appropriate. There is provision in the regulations to continue to make SMI benefit payments pending completion of the legal process to appoint a legal representative. All SMI recipients will receive written correspondence and telephone calls regarding the change from a benefit to a loan, its implications and the different options available. If, during the course of discussion, it becomes apparent that the person does not fully understand or may struggle to make an informed decision, the case will be referred back to the Department. The Department will determine if they require a legally appointed Deputy or additional support for the informed discussion. In exceptional circumstances assistance will be offered via a home visit.

Mortgages: Interest Payments

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of mortgage rate increases on the (a) loan to value ratio and (b) viability of retaining ownership of a property for people affected by the Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations 2017.

Kit Malthouse: Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans provide robust protection against repossession and will be offered to all eligible owner-occupiers regardless of the loan to value ratio of their property or the level of equity available. A standard interest rate (SIR) is used to calculate Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) payments and is set at a level equal to the Bank of England's published monthly average mortgage interest rate. A change to the standard interest rate will occur when the Bank of England average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the SIR. If average mortgage interest rates increase beyond this threshold, SMI payments to customers will increase accordingly.

Children: Maintenance

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126646, what steps she is taking to ensure that staff at Child Maintenance Options and not just staff at the Child Maintenance Service are trained to give specific information about Variations in terms of the Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012.

Kit Malthouse: The role of Child Maintenance Options is not to provide advice, but to provide impartial information to support parents in making the most appropriate maintenance arrangement for their circumstances. Child Maintenance Options agents complete a comprehensive training programme and have supporting guidance available to ensure they provide complete and unbiased information to customers, including information about how a child maintenance calculation is worked out and what information is taken into account. Child Maintenance Options agents are trained to identify circumstances where a variation to the child maintenance calculation may be considered. If any such circumstances are discussed during the Child Maintenance Options conversation, the agent will tell the customer to raise it with the Child Maintenance Service when they make their application and to ask for a variation to be considered. The nature of the variation is specific to each individual customer, and representations are required from both parties (Receiving and Paying Parent). Therefore, specific details are best dealt with at the point where the variation is applied. Child Maintenance Service caseworkers who take applications to the statutory scheme are trained on the detail of the variations system so, in cases where a declaration is made the variation can be applied appropriately. As part of the Compliance and Arrears Strategy the department is reviewing its approach to variations. Appropriate additional training and guidance for Child Maintenance Options and Child Maintenance Service staff, and additional material to raise customer awareness of the variation process, will be considered as a result.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Disqualification

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what her policy is on job seekers allowance claimants being sanctioned for spelling mistakes in their CVs.

Alok Sharma: Claimants will not be sanctioned for providing a CV containing spelling mistakes. However, it could be envisaged that, where in order to improve a claimant’s chances in the job market, a Work Coach may agree a requirement with the claimant to amend spelling mistakes on their CV (but would always support them to do so). If the claimant then fails to complete this agreed requirement without good reason they could be sanctioned, but it would be about the failure to deliver on an agreed ask, rather than a claimant’s initial spelling error on their cv. Decision Makers will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities, and any evidence of good reason into account before making a decision.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Disqualification

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number job seekers allowance claimants sanctioned for spelling mistakes in their CVs in the last 12 months.

Alok Sharma: Claimants will not be sanctioned for providing a CV containing spelling mistakes. However, it could be envisaged that, where in order to improve a claimant’s chances in the job market, a Work Coach may agree a requirement with the claimant to amend spelling mistakes on their CV (but would always support them to do so). If the claimant then fails to complete this agreed requirement without good reason they could be sanctioned, but it would be about the failure to deliver on an agreed ask, rather than a claimant’s initial spelling error on their cv. Decision Makers will take all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities, and any evidence of good reason into account before making a decision.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of job seeker's allowance as a percentage of average earnings in each of the last 15 years.

Alok Sharma: The value of Jobseeker’s Allowance as a percentage of average earnings in each of the last 15 years is available in Table 2.4 of the Annual Abstract of Statistics publication. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/673039/abstract-of-statistics-2017-tables.ods

Occupational Pensions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of overall pension contributions in the UK were paid by (a) the employer and (b) the employee in each of the last 15 years.

Guy Opperman: The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) has collected information on workplace pension contributions since 2005. The following table provides estimates derived from ASHE, up to the latest year available, of the total annual workplace pension contributions made in Great Britain: Year200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016All employeesTotal saved (£ billions)88.578.780.582.480.582.379.278.979.882.885.989.7Employee contributions23.620.120.321.520.821.520.521.223.125.026.027.0Employer contributions58.152.654.054.653.854.652.351.049.049.751.353.8Income tax relief6.96.06.26.36.06.36.36.67.68.28.68.9 Proportion of total saved paid by:Employee contributions27%26%25%26%26%26%26%27%29%30%30%30%Employer contributions66%67%67%66%67%66%66%65%61%60%60%60%Income tax relief8%8%8%8%8%8%8%8%10%10%10%10%Source: DWP estimates derived from the ONS ASHE, GB, 2005 to 2016

State Retirement Pensions

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of the state pension as a percentage of average earnings in each of the last 15 years.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Work and Pensions annually publishes statistics on benefits and earnings information in the Abstract of Statistics publication on the gov.uk website. The latest release is the Abstract of Statistics 2017 which can be found at the following URL and contains the information that you require in table 2.1a. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/abstract-of-statistics-2017

Mortgages: Coventry

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in Coventry were in receipt of support for mortgage interest in each year since 2010.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not hold the data requested. The data needed to make robust estimates of the number of recipients of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) at geographies smaller than Government Office Region is not available to Departmental analysts.

Universal Credit: Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many 18 to 21 year olds have not been eligible to claim the housing element of Universal Credit since 1 April 2017.

Kit Malthouse: Information on 18-21 year olds ineligible to claim the housing element of Universal Credit is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/removal-of-automatic-entitlement-to-housing-costs-for-18-to-21-year-olds-in-universal-credit

Universal Credit: Housing

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people aged 18 to 21 years old were classified as exempt from the removal of entitlement to housing costs under universal credit in each category of exemption.

Kit Malthouse: Information on 18-21 year olds exempted from the removal of automatic entitlement to housing costs in Universal Credit is published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/removal-of-automatic-entitlement-to-housing-costs-for-18-to-21-year-olds-in-universal-credit

Universal Credit: Local Government

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to widen the scope of universal credit data-sharing with local authorities (a) to help prevent homelessness by resolving claim problems and (b) for other purposes; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: In Universal Credit, information is shared with Local Authorities (LA) throughout the life cycle of a Universal Credit claim, for example to inform the LA that a claim has been made so that any existing Housing Benefit claims can be stopped, or to help support claims for Local Council Tax Reduction. The sharing of Universal Credit data helps LAs with their ability to discharge their own duties, for example on preventing homelessness. Additionally, we also announced in the 2017 autumn budget, that from April 2018 we will be taking housing costs for those claimants in temporary accommodation out of Universal Credit, and having these housing costs met through Housing Benefit.

Personal Independence Payment

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 125988, for what reasons personal independence payment claimants are not given the full list of descriptors against which they are assessed; and if she will make a statement.

Sarah Newton: Claimants to Personal Independence Payment are not provided with a list of descriptors because the PIP2 questionnaire, “How your disability affects you”, was designed to allow claimants to tell us, in their own words, how their health condition or disability impacts them on a day-to-day basis. The questionnaire, which was co-produced with the assistance of disabled people, carers and organisations supporting them, is accompanied by a leaflet that helps claimants complete the form. The assessment activities and descriptors used in PIP can be found in part 2 of the PIP Assessment Guide available on www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/665635/pip-assessment-guide-part-2-assessment-criteria.pdf

Employment and Support Allowance

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2018 to Question 124897, and the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 122944, what plans she has to ensure that information for Employment Support Allowance is available in the same form as information for personal independence payments.

Sarah Newton: As policies, processes and monitoring systems may vary, it is not always possible to produce the same statistics for each benefit administered by the Department. DWP statisticians work to produce statistics that most appropriately reflect the processes being measured for each individual benefit but, in cases where there are similarities, will aim to make the statistics as comparable as possible. The Department publishes quarterly statistics on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA): Outcomes of Work Capability Assessments (WCA) which include figures on mandatory reconsiderations and appeals of WCA decisions. These statistics are not currently available to parliamentary constituency level but DWP statisticians are investigating how to extend the geography information provided. The statistics can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employment-and-support-allowance-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessment With reference to Question 122944, equivalent national figures for appeals on initial and repeat ESA WCAs are available in Table 17 of these statistics. This table covers experimental statistics on the number of initial and repeat ESA WCA assessment which result in a mandatory reconsideration or an appeal. Official statistics on all appeals made with respect to ESA claims are published by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statisticsAs these are not DWP statistics, responsibility for their format lies with HMCTS

Work Capability Assessment

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Disabled People on 13 December 2017, Official Report, column 188WH, whether the figure cited of 83 per cent of people being either satisfied or very satisfied with the work capability assessment included responses from people whose claims were disallowed.

Sarah Newton: The Claimant Service and Experience Survey includes claimants who have had contact with DWP in the last three months, so there would be scope for inclusion in the survey each quarter, even if the claim for ESA was subsequently disallowed. The latest overall satisfaction figure for ESA is 82% in 2016/17 (from 83% in 2015/16) as published on 22 February 2018 and available at GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2016-to-2017

Personal Independence Payment

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to Answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 122972, whether the figure cited of overall satisfaction for personal independence payments included responses from people whose claims were disallowed.

Sarah Newton: The Claimant Service and Experience Survey includes Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants who have had contact with DWP in the three months prior to interview and whose claims were successful. The latest overall satisfaction figure for PIP is 87% in 2016/17 (from 76% in 2015/16) as published on 22 February 2018 and available at GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-claimant-service-and-experience-survey-2016-to-2017

Free School Meals: Eligibility

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127402, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential effect of proposals relating to eligibility for free school meals on work incentives; and if he will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The responsibility for setting the eligibility criteria for each passported benefit sits with its parent Department, in this case the Department for Education. DWP has been working closely with the Department of Education to support delivery of their eligibility criteria for free school meals for Universal Credit claimants in England.

Department for Work and Pensions: Staff

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to ensure that non-payroll staff employed by her Department are not disguised employees as defined by HMRC.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will specify what services non-payroll staff provide to her Department.

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the (a) number and (b) average cost was of non-payroll staff working for her Department in each month in 2017.

Kit Malthouse: The Department’s Tax Team has always undertaken assurance activities and checks on the employment status of our contractors to ensure that they are paying tax appropriately. A summary of these activities are reported in our annual accounts.In 2017, HMRC implemented a change to off-payroll intermediaries legislation (IR35) which places the responsibility of determining employment status of contractors onto public bodies. In response, DWP have further enhanced their contractor hiring process and assurance activities to ensure that contractors have the correct employment status and are not operating as disguised employees. As an overview of our process:DWP Tax and Commercial Specialists have developed comprehensive guidance to support making IR35 assessments, directly supporting business users in identifying the employment status of contractors.Before a contractor is brought in, the civil servant that will be closest to the contractor completes the online HMRC Employment Status (ESS) tool, setting the working practices that will define the engagement.The HMRC ESS online tool determines the engagement type as either in-scope or out-of-scope of intermediaries legislation. Where they are assessed as “in-scope”, the organisation paying the contractors fees is instructed to deduct tax and National Insurance contributions from the payment. The tool is endorsed by HMRC, utilising legislation and case law to classify contractor engagements.In addition to the HMRC ESS tool, a DWP working practices assessment is completed which gives greater detail on the engagement. This further verifies the outcome of the HMRC tool and supports assurance activities.Contractor roles are advertised as per the engagement status, so that contractors are brought in as either in-scope (required to be taxed through a payroll) or out-of-scope of the rules.DWP Tax specialists undertake risk based assurance activities, undertaking detailed reviews to ensure that the Department is applying the rules correctly.DWP Tax Specialists continue to engage with HMRC and the Tax Centre of Excellence to test the Department’s interpretation of the rules and ensure accurate classification of contractor engagements.For new hires, contract extensions or whenever there are changes to working practices, a new IR35 assessment is undertaken to ensure that any changes are accurately reflected in the contractor’s engagement status.The Government Internal Audit Agency has undertaken a review of DWP’s IR35 controls, finding that they are robust and provide good assurance that contractors are engaged with the correct status. The majority of non payroll staff are employed to develop the technology for DWP major welfare reforms. In the table below, please find numbers and average costs of contingent labour working in the Department during 2017:Reporting MonthNumber of Contingent Labour Average weekly contingent labour cost (net of VAT)Jan-17465£2,029Feb-17436£2,606Mar-17393£2,584Apr-17399£2,334May-17404£2,450Jun-17399£2,376Jul-17399£2,476Aug-17360£2,510Sep-17375£2,420Oct-17393£2,746Nov-17410£2,638Dec-17433£2,682

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place in the Library a copy of the questions used for (a) personal independence payment and (b) employment and support allowance assessments.

Sarah Newton: I will place copies of the PIP2 and ESA50 questionnaires in the Library together with a booklet and flyer which accompanies the PIP2. A copy of the PIP2 questionnaire and the booklet accompanying it are also available from the Personal Independence Payment Toolkit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-personal-independence-payment-pip-toolkit. A copy of the ESA50 is also available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capability-for-work-questionnaire. Both questionnaires are also available in Welsh and a range of accessible formats such as Braille.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what resources are provided by her Department to (a) Citizens Advice and (b) other welfare rights organisation for the provision of  representation services  as referenced in section 4 of the Social Security and Child Support appeal form SSCS1; and what other representation services are available to claimants if services are not available from those organisations.

Sarah Newton: The Department does not provide resources to welfare rights organisations for the provision of representation services. Claimants are still represented but funding support for that is not provided by DWP.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Sugar: Competition

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to establish a sugar policy to provide equity in the sugar market for producers after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: British sugar beet producers are among the most competitive in the world and already compete effectively at world prices. The government also recognises the importance of the sugar cane refining industry in providing competition in the market in the UK and the importance of sugar cane production for some developing countries, especially those within the Commonwealth. On leaving the EU the UK government will be free to decide its own trade policies.

Food: Origin Marking

Luke Pollard: To ask Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure UK goods continue to enjoy EU protected food name status after the UK leaves the EU; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: Using the powers of the Withdrawal Bill, we will create a UK Geographical Indication scheme (GI). This will provide UK protection for UK Geographical Indications (GIs) when we leave the EU and ensure that the UK fulfils its WTO TRIPS obligations. We expect that all current UK GIs will continue to be protected by the EU’s GI schemes after we leave the EU.

Plastics: Hertfordshire

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Departments holds on the volume of plastic waste from the recycling facilities in Hertfordshire that has been sent to (a) landfill, (b) incineration, (c) energy recovery and (d) exported abroad.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra does not hold specific data on the volume of plastic waste from recycling facilities in Hertfordshire that was landfilled, incinerated, sent to energy recovery or exported. This is because data is not structured specifically around material streams or facilities and regions in this way. Under separate Producer Responsibility Obligations for packaging, where plastic packaging accounts for around 60% of total plastics arising’s in 2014, there are no accredited plastic reprocessors or accredited plastic exporters situated in Hertfordshire.

Fish Farming: Regulation

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to regulate the aquaculture sector after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill ensures that, so far as possible, the same rules and laws will apply on the day after we have left the EU as on the day before. This will provide the maximum possible certainty and continuity to businesses, workers and consumers across the UK. Aquaculture sector policy is a devolved matter. In England, any future changes to the regulatory framework for aquaculture will need to be considered and consulted upon carefully. Any such changes should build on the success of existing initiatives and collaborations, such as those achieved as part of the Seafood 2040 plan, whilst working towards achieving the Government’s commitment within the 25 Year Environment Plan to achieve good environmental status in our seas while allowing marine industries (such as aquaculture) to thrive.

Recycling: Incentives

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using monetary incentives to encourage people to recycle.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra launched the Reward and Recognition Fund (RRF) that encouraged local authorities and community groups to devise and assess innovative ideas for reward and recognition initiatives that would encourage positive waste behaviours such as recycling or reuse. The RRF awarded £1.6 million to 25 organisations, delivering 31 unique pilots. The final waste reward and recognition fund evaluation report was published in May 2016 and is available on http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=13764_RRFFinalReport.pdf The report concludes that although Reward and Recognition can play a useful role in communications and engagement with householders or communities building valuable social capital, it does need careful thought and management to achieve the best outcome. The final report also highlights important points to consider before taking the decision to set up such schemes, providing evidence and conclusions which can be used by local authorities and community groups. In autumn 2017, an independent working group set up under the Litter Strategy for England held a call for evidence on measures to reduce littering of drinks containers and promote recycling. This included seeking evidence on the costs, benefits and impacts of deposit return schemes. The Working Group has recently submitted their report to Ministers, who will be making a decision on the next steps shortly.

Agriculture: Climate Change

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of climate change to the UK agricultural sector.

George Eustice: The Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Government to produce, every five years, an assessment of the risks to the United Kingdom arising from current and predicted climate change. The second Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) was laid before Parliament in January 2017. The CCRA does not give an estimate of the cost of climate change to the UK agricultural sector, due to the wide variety of possible outcomes depending on different projections of climate change. The assessment notes a number of potential risks to UK agricultural production arising from, for example, vulnerability to water shortages, pests and disease, and extreme weather events. The report also observes that warmer weather and longer growing seasons may improve agricultural productivity.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Recruitment

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which external recruitment agencies are used by his Department's non-departmental public bodies.

George Eustice: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Home Office

*No heading*

Emma Dent Coad: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information she holds on the number of cases granted a visa under the Grenfell Tower Relatives policy who have returned to their country of origin.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office acted swiftly to grant visas to relatives of those directly affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. In all cases where the Immigration Rules were not met, consideration was given to leave outside of the Immigration Rules on exceptional grounds. The Grenfell Relatives’ Policy announced on 11 October 2017 allowed relatives granted a short period of leave outside of the rules, to extend their stay up to six months from their date of entry to the UK. Existing policies are in place to allow any relative to apply for further leave to remain in the UK. We have plans to publish statistics about applications made by survivors and relatives of victims and survivors in due course, once the data have been properly assured.

Doctors: Migrant Workers

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will review the system for determining the number of points required for a certificate of sponsorship for overseas doctors seeking work in UK hospitals.

Caroline Nokes: The independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has determined that a number of doctors, including consultants specialising in clinical radiology and emergency medicine, are in national shortage and they appear on the published Shortage Occupation List (SOL) which sits under Tier 2, our main immigration route for non-EEA workers.Applications for jobs on the SOL receive the highest priority – and the highest number of points – when allocating a Tier 2 (General) place.The SOL is kept under regular review, with the most recent changes made to it last April.

Home Office: Contracts

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has plans to require open book accounting clauses in respect of outsourced contracts; if she will publish any such clauses in contracts held by her Department; and how many of her Department's outsourced contracts contained such clauses in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18 by (i) Home Office policy area and (ii) contract value.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office follows the Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service procurement policy that assists in enabling open book contract management to be used in a fair way depending on the risk level and complexity of the contract. This ensures it is used on those contracts where the additional cost is justified by the level of benefits and risk. Standard clauses are published as part of the government’s Model Services Contract. Details may be found on the following links:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0516-open-book-contact-managementhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/model-services-contract Details of clauses within individual contracts are published via Contracts Finder https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder

Refugees: Employment

Mrs Kemi Badenoch: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department,  pursuant to the Answer of 25 January 2018 to Question 124937, if she will create a web page with information for employers wishing to employ refugees; and if she will include (a) information on the right of refugees to work in the UK, (b) the difference between the rights of asylum seekers and those of refugees, (c) a link to the check a biometric residence permit web page, (d) a link to the employer checking service web page, and (e) guidelines on the documentation needed to prove refugee status on that web page.

Caroline Nokes: Guidance to employers on carrying out Right to Work checks includes information in respect of the employment of refugees and asylum seekers. This guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/employers-illegal-working-penalties.Documentation to demonstrate an individual’s right to work in the UK is set out in the employer guidance and Code of Practice for preventing illegal working. Anyone who is granted permission to remain in the UK as a refugee has unrestricted access to the labour market and can demonstrate their status and work entitlement through their Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). There is currently no plan to create a new webpage dedicated to employers of refugees, however, Gov.uk content is kept under continuous review.

Asylum: Housing

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many female asylum-seekers are housed in mixed-sex accommodation.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office closely monitors Accommodation Providers to ensure that they adhere to contractual requirements to consider individual characteristics, including gender, when allocating appropriate accommodation. Services users are not accommodated in mixed-sex dispersal accommodation unless part of a same family unit. Those service users who are accommodated in initial accommodation are provided with same sex rooms or blocks. Information on the gender mix of individual properties is not held in a reportable format and the requested information could therefore only be provided at disproportionate cost by examination of individual property records.

Overseas Students: Health Services

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Home Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of the increase in the NHS health charge for students on the number of international students.

Caroline Nokes: The Government does not believe that increasing the Immigration Health Surcharge will have an impact on the number of international students. International students already pay a reduced rate compared to other entrants to the UK and we are committed to maintaining this approach. An Impact Assessment will be published later this year when the draft Statutory Instrument to increase the surcharge is laid before Parliament.

Members: Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the letter of 11 January 2018 from the right hon. Member for Warley regarding Mr Alex.

Caroline Nokes: A response was sent to the Hon. Member for Warley on the 20th February 2018.

Immigration

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 30 March 2017 to Question 68451 on Immigration, how many people who passed through the National Referral Mechanism as victims of (a) modern slavery and (b) human trafficking with positive conclusive grounds status were granted discretionary leave to remain in the UK in 2017.

Caroline Nokes: The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism on a quarterly basis. These reports are available via the following links: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2017-uk-annual-report-on-modern-slavery The specific information you have requested is not currently published.  Statistics on the total number of people granted discretionary leave for all reasons can be found online at the following address:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017-data-tables

Slavery

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who passed through the national referral mechanism as victims of (a) modern slavery and (b) human trafficking with positive conclusive grounds status were refused (i) international protection and (ii) limited leave to remain in each year since 2014.

Caroline Nokes: The National Crime Agency publishes statistics on referrals into the National Referral Mechanism on a quarterly basis. These reports are available via the following links: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/publications/national-referral-mechanism-statistics https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2017-uk-annual-report-on-modern-slavery The specific information you have requested is not currently published.  Statistics on the total number of people granted discretionary leave for all reasons can be found online at the following address:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-april-to-june-2017-data-tables. Updated information will be available shortly.

Immigrants: Health Services

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether non-EEA immigrants who have been issued an ancestry visa and already live and work in the UK will be affected by the planned increase in the immigration healthcare surcharge.

Caroline Nokes: Non-EEA migrants who have entered the UK via the ancestry route, will be affected by the proposed increase to the immigration health surcharge if they apply to extend their temporary stay after the increase has come into force. Migrants applying for indefinite leave to remain will continue to be exempt from the surcharge.

Migration Advisory Committee

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a separate stakeholder group to the Migration Advisory Committee with representatives from (a) the devolved administrations and (b) regional and city mayors.

Caroline Nokes: The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has a UK-wide remit. On 27 July 2017, the Government commissioned the MAC to report on the impact on the UK labour market of the UK’s exit from the European Union and how the UK’s immigration system should be aligned with a modern industrial strategy. The commission specifically required the MAC to consider the impacts on different parts of the UK.In taking evidence, the MAC has visited Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and every region of England.

Members: Correspondence

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to the letter of 8 February from the hon. Member for Glasgow Central on Mr Wasim Iqbal.

Caroline Nokes: The Hon. Member’s letter of 8 February was received and a response will be issued as soon as possible.

Asylum: Finance

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the merits of increasing the monthly cash allowance in line with inflation for people claiming asylum.

Caroline Nokes: The cash allowance provided to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute to enable them to meet their essential living needs is reviewed each year, using a methodology that was established in 2015 and which the courts have agreed is a rational approach. The annual review takes account of inflation since the previous review. Following the most recent review, the allowance was raised from £36.95 per week to £37.75 per week, with the change implemented from the week beginning 5 February 2018. A report setting out the full detail of the review and how inflation was considered can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/report-on-review-of-cash-allowance-paid-to-asylum-seekers

Asylum: Housing

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the living conditions in asylum accommodation centres; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: Accommodation providers are required to provide safe, habitable, fit for purpose and correctly equipped accommodation that complies with the Decent Homes Standard in addition to standards outlined in relevant national or local housing legislation.The contract requires Providers to inspect each property every month and UKVI inspects a significant proportion of properties each year to ensure standards are being met. Where asylum accommodation is found to be falling short of the required standards UKVI has procedures in place to hold suppliers to account to quickly resolve the issue.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to expedite the issuing of Tier 2 visas.

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review the annual quota of Tier 2 visas.

Caroline Nokes: Tier 2, our main immigration route for non-EEA workers, operates an annual cap of 20,700 places per year. The cap, which was set on advice from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), ensures that the Government can control migration and encourages employers to look first to the domestic workforce before recruiting from overseas. Places are allocated on a monthly basis to ensure consistency and that places can be allocated according to priority. Places are allocated first to those in occupations which are in national shortage and which appear on the published Shortage Occupation List (SOL). The SOL is drawn up on the basis of advice from the MAC.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visas from (a) businesses (b) UK Government Departments and (c) the Scottish Government in Scotland were rejected as a result of the cap on Tier 2 visas for skilled non-European workers in (i) December 2017, (ii) January 2018 and (iii) February 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The specific information that has been requested is not included in statistics published by the Home Office.

Visas: Skilled Workers

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department makes a comparative assessment of salary differentials in different parts of the UK in respect of granting visas for skilled non-European workers.

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department made of salary differentials in the different parts of the UK for visas for skilled non-European workers in (a) December 2017, (b) January 2018 and (c) February 2018.

Caroline Nokes: Immigration is a reserved matter. The Government considers the needs of the UK as a whole and is committed to developing an immigration system that serves the national interest.Applying different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harming its integrity, and cause difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.The independent Migration Advisory Committee has repeatedly recommended that we should not operate different salary thresholds for different regions and countries in the UK.

Asylum: Sudan

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her department next plans to update new country policy and information notes on Sudan.

Caroline Nokes: We regularly review the situation in countries of origin and our corresponding program for updating our country policy and information notes.As we explained in response to the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration’s inspection of country of origin information, decisions of which existing CPINs to update and which new ones to produce takes into account a range of factors, such as geopolitical changes, migration trends, policy changes, and new caselaw.The current country policy and information notes on Sudan were published in August 2017.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her policy is on immigration from the EU during any potential transition period as part of the UK leaving the EU.

Caroline Nokes: During the implementation period after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, EU citizens will continue to be able to live and work in the UK, but there will be a registration system in preparation for our future immigration system. We have yet to agree their longer-term rights, but they should have different expectations to those here before exit.

Undocumented Migrants

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2018 to Question 121760, what the (a) ethnicity, (b) race and (c) religion was of people who were detained in those immigration enforcement operations who subsequently made immigration applications by type of application.

Caroline Nokes: The Department does not routinely collect data on the ethnicity, race or religion of people who make immigration applications by type of application subsequent to being encountered on immigration enforcement operations and detained. Any data that may be captured is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Undocumented Migrants

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2018 to Question 121760, what the (a) ethnicity, (b) race and (c) religion was of people who were detained in those immigration enforcement operations.

Caroline Nokes: The Department does not routinely collect data on the ethnicity, race or religion of people who are encountered on immigration enforcement operations and subsequently detained. Any data that may be captured is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Fire and Rescue Services: Vacancies

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many vacancies there are for on-call firefighters in (a) Derbyshire, (b) each region of England, (c) Scotland and (d) Wales.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not collect the information requested centrally.

British Nationality: British Indian Ocean Territory

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to establish full citizenship rights for people descended from the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will meet with the Chagos Islands (British Indian Ocean Territory) All-Party Parliamentary Group to discuss citizenship rights for people descended from the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Caroline Nokes: There is no legislative provision which would enable adult third generation Chagossians with no residential link to the UK or a British Overseas Territory to qualify for British citizenship.This Government undertook a consultation on this issue in 2015, providing members of the Chagossian communities and other interested parties the opportunity to provide their views on the relevant issues.Following this consultation, we committed to fund a package of approximately £40 million, targeted at programmes aimed at improving the lives of the Chagossian population. We were clear that this would not include making specific provision for citizenship to be transmitted beyond the first generation born outside the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Visas: Migrant Workers

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of businesses raising offered salaries for non-Europeans workers to assist the approval of work visas.

Caroline Nokes: Salaries paid by employers are a matter for the employers in question. It is a requirement, for all Tier 2 (General) jobs, that a migrant must be paid the appropriate salary for the occupation in question. This requirement helps to ensure fair pay for migrant workers and prevents Tier 2 being used to undercut resident workers. The minimum salary for Tier 2 is £30,000 or £20,800 for new entrants, or the appropriate rate for the job, whichever is the higher. The minimum salary levels are based on the salary distribution for all positions in the UK. For experienced workers, this is set at the 25th percentile, the rate for new entrants be set at the 10th percentile Tier 2 salaries have remained at their current levels since April 2017.

Visas: Migrant Workers

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for visas for non-EU workers were refused for each tier and type of work visa in each of the last three months.

Caroline Nokes: Information on grants and refusals of applications for entry clearance work visas, by Tier and category, are published on a quarterly basis, in the quarterly Immigration Statistics. (latest edition ‘Immigration Statistics, October – December 2017’, Visas data tables volume 1, table vi_01_q, available from https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017).

Police: West Midlands

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the (a) Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands and (b) Chief Constable of West Midlands Police on the police grant for the West Midlands.

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment her Department has made of the appropriate level of funding for West Midlands Police.

Mr Nick Hurd: In 2017, I spoke to every force in England and Wales about the changing demands they face, and how these can best be managed, including the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for West Midlands. Following this engagement, I announced the police funding settlement for 2018/19 which will see an additional £450m invested in the policing system, around £270m direct to PCCs. The West Midlands PCC chose to use increased precept flexibility, which will provide around £9.5m additional funding for West Midlands Police in 2018/19.

HM Treasury

Cryptocurrencies

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government will introduce a fiat digital currency.

John Glen: The Bank of England does not currently plan to issue a central bank-issued digital currency. However, the Bank is undertaking research to better understand the implications of a central bank issuing a digital currency.

Amazon: Taxation

Jo Stevens: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions HM Revenue and Customs have had with Amazon UK on their tax status.

Mel Stride: The administration of the tax system, including where appropriate the repayment of tax or duties, is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. However, multinational companies must pay all taxes due and HM Revenue and Customs do not settle for less. It would not be appropriate for Treasury Ministers to become involved in specific cases.

Treasury

Stella Creasy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, to list the (a) dates and (b) attendees of meetings (i) Ministers and (ii) officials of his Department have held with (A) Beatty, (B) Barclays, (C) Dalmore Capital, (D) Equitix, (E) Innisfree, (F) Interserve, (G) Semperian and (H) Veolia in the last 12 months.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness about childcare support.

Catherine McKinnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide a breakdown of the operating costs of (a) the childcare voucher scheme and (b) tax-free childcare.

Elizabeth Truss: Regarding the operating costs of the childcare vouchers and Tax-Free Childcare schemes, I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given on 8 February 2018 (126730).In March 2017, the government launched the Childcare Choices website which brings together information about all the different help with childcare offered by the government – including Tax-Free Childcare.HMRC and DfE are working together on a communications and engagement programme, which includes national, regional and social media, and communications through industry stakeholders. Parents who have signed up for updates on the new schemes are also being notified by direct email when they become eligible. HMRC officials are continuing to attend industry events, across the UK, to promote Tax-Free Childcare to childcare providers, local authorities, parent groups and other childcare industry stakeholders.

Income Tax: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from income tax on personal allowance in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from income tax on personal savings allowance in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from income tax on personal dividend allowance in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Peter Dowd: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people received relief from national insurance contributions under the primary threshold in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Mel Stride: The table below shows estimates for the number of people receiving income tax or National Insurance Contributions relief for each of the requested allowances. The estimates show people that would face a higher tax liability if the individual allowances and/or thresholds were removed, and include people who are currently non-taxpayers where their income is covered by these thresholds and/or allowances.Estimates of the number of people who received tax/NIC relief (Millions) (1) 2015-162016-172017-18Personal Allowance46.246.546.8Class 1 National Insurance: Primary Threshold29.930.330.7Personal Savings Allowance-18.018.0Dividend Allowance-4.84.9(1) The figures are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand and presented in millions.Information for the Personal Savings Allowance and the Dividend Allowance is only available from 2016-17 onwards, as they were introduced in April 2016. Estimates are based on the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI), projected to 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18 using economic assumptions consistent with the office for Budget Responsibility’s November 2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The SPI is based on information held by HMRC on individuals who could be liable to UK income tax. Not all dividends and savings income is reported to HMRC. There is not always a requirement to report income from dividends or savings which fall within the Dividend Allowance or the Personal Savings Allowance. Dividend and savings incomes of individuals not in Self-Assessment are estimated from other sources, including the Family Resources Survey. The total number of individuals receiving relief from these allowances is likely to be greater than the figures above. HMRC does not hold information for all people with incomes below the Personal Allowance (£10,000 in 2014-15). There are also other mechanisms by which income is exempted from income tax, such as Investment income generated within Individual Savings Accounts. This income does not benefit from the reliefs in question.

Temporary Employment: Financial Services

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made on the adequacy of access to (a) personal insurance (b) mortgages and (c) credit facilities for (i) temporary workers and (ii) people in insecure employment.

John Glen: The government is committed to ensuring that individuals, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services. The government has committed to establish a Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which will provide leadership and ensure collaboration across government and with the sector in tackling financial exclusion. The Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are working together to monitor the personal insurance, mortgage and consumer credit markets to ensure they function well. This includes ensuring that people are not excluded because of their employment type or working patterns. The FCA recently published their ‘Consumer Approach’ document which outlines its strategy on how to deliver a well-functioning market for consumers, including vulnerable consumers. In addition, the FCA’s recent Financial Lives survey has contributed to the development of the FCA’s evidence base on consumers. As long as workers can satisfactorily evidence their income and pass affordability checks, their employment status and working pattern should not prevent them from obtaining a mortgage. The FCA’s regulations allow flexibility in the way lenders conduct affordability assessments, and many lenders offer custom mortgage products designed for contractors or the self-employed, which commonly include features designed to account for income volatility. The government is committed to ensuring that the consumer credit market is able to meet the needs of all consumers, including temporary workers and those in insecure employment, through offering choice in accessing credit. This includes support for the credit union sector, which provides an accessible alternative to high-cost credit. Whilst the government has not identified evidence of widespread exclusion to date in the personal insurance market, we continue to monitor the situation in partnership with the FCA, particularly for groups more vulnerable to exclusion.

Black Economy

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the size of the UK shadow economy as a percentage of GDP.

John Glen: The information requested is not available. However, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does produce estimates of the effect of the hidden economy on tax revenues. In its latest publication, HMRC estimates the hidden economy tax gap at £3.5 billion in 2015-16. This estimate can be found in the summary of the ‘Measuring tax gaps’ publication, available at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps. HMRC also commissioned NatCen Social Research to undertake a quantitative survey to better understand the nature and number of people involved in the hidden economy, as well as their characteristics. Findings are available in the report ‘The Hidden Economy in Great Britain’, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-hidden-economy-in-great-britain.

Gift Aid

Sir Patrick McLoughlin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money has been paid out in Gift Aid in each of the past five financial years.

Sir Patrick McLoughlin: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, who the top ten recipients of Gift Aid from single payments were in each of the last five financial years.

Robert Jenrick: Statistical information about the amount of Gift Aid tax relief repayments to charities over the last five tax years is available on gov.uk - www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cost-of-tax-relief.HM Revenue & Customs cannot disclose the names of Gift Aid tax relief recipients due to taxpayer confidentiality.

Offenders: Insurance

Dr David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make representations to representatives of the insurance industry on the policy of charging ex-offenders higher rates for car and other types of insurance.

John Glen: The government regularly engages with insurers and their representatives. The government recognizes that various factors can impact on availability, pricing and terms of insurance policies. A conviction can be an indicator of risk. As such, some, but not all insurers use previous convictions as a rating factor. The respective capabilities of insurers to assess risk is a key element on which they compete. We do not prescribe the terms, conditions or price that insurance companies may set when offering insurance. This competition is important and should lead to better products and lower prices for consumers overall. However, when a conviction has been spent, it need not be disclosed and insurers are under a legal obligation to disregard it under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, as amended by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment Act 2012. The government believes that it is important that consumers have access to suitable insurance products at the right price. The charity Unlock provides further guidance specifically for those with previous convictions in accessing insurance services and can be found at www.unlock.org.uk.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to EU Exit Analysis – Cross Whitehall Briefing, what assumptions were made in preparing that document; and whether it was assumed that the UK's participation in the 759 EU Treaties would roll over.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assumptions were made on the type of US trade deal, the sectors it covered and its implementation in the preparation of the EU Exit Analysis – Cross Whitehall briefing paper.

Mr Robin Walker: As ministers clearly set out in the House, this is provisional internal analysis and does not represent Government policy. It is part of a broad ongoing programme of analysis, and further work is in train. The Government has complied with the Humble Address motion passed by the House, which made clear that the contents of this analysis should be treated confidentially, to ensure our negotiating position is in no way undermined.

Brexit

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127136, for what reason no reference was made to whether the document is classified as a Market Access assessment by his Department.

Suella Fernandes: It is not standard practice to provide a running commentary on continuing analysis, including titles and numbers of documents.

Exports: North East

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment the Government has made of the financial and economic effect of the UK leaving the EU on the North East’s export market and businesses in that region that export primarily to countries within the EU.

Suella Fernandes: The Government is undertaking a wide range of ongoing analysis in support of our EU exit negotiations and preparations. Our overall programme of work is comprehensive, thorough and is continuously updated. We are committed to getting the best possible deal for the United Kingdom - a deal that works for all parts of the UK, including the North East. We continue to engage with businesses and industry bodies from all sectors of the economy, and all regions and nations of the UK, in order to inform our negotiations.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Legal Profession

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 3 January 2018 to Question 120194, how many of the 40 Government Legal Department lawyers advising his Department have experience in state aid and competition law specifically.

Suella Fernandes: Lawyers in DExEU Legal Advisers have a wide range of experience of domestic, EU and international law, including in areas such as state aid and competition law that affect many aspects of government legal practice.

Department for International Trade

Dumping: China

Gareth Snell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions he had with his counterpart in the Government of China during the recent trade mission on the dumping of ceramic products by that country.

Greg Hands: Holding answer received on 22 February 2018



My Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade recently accompanied the Prime Minister on a visit to China, where the need for open and fair trade and a global effort to tackle overcapacity was raised at the highest levels of the Chinese government.The Governments regular contact on the range of issues relating to Trade and have launched a Trade review to put this on a more formal roofing.

Security: Trade Fairs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To as the Secretary of State for International Trade, which national delegations the Government invited to the annual security and policing event; and of those delegations, how many representatives attended in each year from 2010-2017.

Graham Stuart: Holding answer received on 22 February 2018



The Department for International Trade (DIT) publishes the list of international delegations invited to Security and Policing on gov.uk each year shortly before the event and updates this to indicate which countries attended after the event.Since the creation of DIT there has been one Security and Policing event, in March 2017. The number of delegates who were officially invited and planned to attend the event in 2017 is shown in the table below.DelegationDelegatesAlgeria1Belgium3Bosnia and Herzegovina1Brazil3Brunei2Bulgaria1Canada3Chile1Colombia1Croatia1Czech Republic3Denmark2Estonia3Finland3France3Germany1Greece1Hong Kong3Hungary1India1Indonesia3Italy3Japan3Kuwait3Latvia3Lithuania3Malaysia2Netherlands3New Zealand1Norway2Oman3Pakistan1Panama1Poland3Portugal2Qatar1Republic of Korea3Romania3Saudi Arabia3Singapore3Slovakia3South Africa2Spain2Taiwan1Turkey2UAE1USA4Vietnam2Total: 48Total: 104

Security: Trade Fairs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many journalists his Department invited to the annual security and policing event in each year from 2010-2017 and for which publications or broadcasters those journalists worked.

Graham Stuart: Holding answer received on 22 February 2018



Media are not invited to the Security and Policing event. Media enquiries are dealt with by the Home Office press office.

Security: Trade Fairs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many escort officers for international delegates his Department employed, from where those officers were recruited and what the grade or rank each officer was for the security and policing event in each year from 2010 to 2017.

Graham Stuart: Holding answer received on 22 February 2018



Since the creation of the Department for International Trade (DIT) there has been one Security and Policing event, in March 2017. As part of their role supporting UK exports, DIT staff acted as ‘Accompanying Officers’ (AOs) to chaperone official overseas delegations at this event. The number and grades of AOs were not recorded separately, as it was considered a normal part of their duties. AOs were assigned to delegations as and when necessary, but were not necessarily assigned to every delegation.

Arms Trade: Export Controls

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2018 to Question 126450, whether his statement that the Defence and Security Organisation and the Export Control Joint Unit conduct their business entirely separately is consistent with the statement in the United Kingdom Strategic Export Controls Annual Report 2016 that the Export Control Joint Unit works in close partnership with the Defence and Security Organisation.

Graham Stuart: The Export Control Joint Unit is not involved in any aspect of export promotion and DSO is not involved or consulted in export licensing decisions.Regarding working in close partnership, the annual report said "ECJU also continued to work in close partnership with DIT's Defence & Security Organisation (DSO) at regional events for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These helped ECJU to explain export control requirements directly to defence and security businesses, reaching around 200 people, around 20% of whom were new to exporting".

Honduras: Electronic Surveillance

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2018 to Question 127539, which NGO's were consulted while considering whether to issue licences to Honduras.

Graham Stuart: NGOs are not consulted in export licence decisions. When considering export licence applications we draw on all available information, including reports from NGOs and our overseas network.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Tickets: Sales

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions his Department has had with internet service providers on the continued high search result rankings of secondary ticketing websites on the internet.

Margot James: We are determined to crackdown on unacceptable behaviour in the online ticketing market and improve fans’ chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price. We recognise that Government can’t act alone in addressing this issue, and that the ticketing industry and online platforms need to take actions themselves. We therefore welcome the announcement by Google requiring ticket resellers to be certified before they can advertise through its AdWords platform, and trust that it will be working to ensure its effectiveness, and that it will take action to enforce compliance with the new rules.

Artificial Intelligence: Research

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to support research developments on artificial intelligence in the UK.

Margot James: AI and data-driven research is a priority for government, and is critical to responding to the AI and Data Grand Challenge outlined in the Industrial Strategy. The Autumn Budget announced£75m specifically for AI and Data – including 450 additional AI research PhD places by 2021, and a Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation looking at issues around data, including use for AI – a world-first. An overall increase in £4.7bn R&D funding by 2021, including money made available through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, will also stimulate AI-based solutions – for example through the Robotics and AI Extreme Environments programme. Government continues to fund primary research in computer science and data analytics through the research councils, and from 1 April, UK Research and Innovation. The joint DCMS/BEIS Office for AI will work with a new AI Council on skills, technology adoption and AI workforce diversity.

Pornography: Internet

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what the timetable is for the Age-Verification Regulator for Online Pornography to publish its guidance.

Margot James: The Government has proposed the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) as the age verification regulator. The proposed designation has not yet been formally approved by Parliament. Once the designation has been made, the BBFC will make available its draft guidance and will engage with key stakeholders. The final draft guidance will be submitted to the Secretary of State for approval before it is laid in Parliament for approval from both Houses.

BBC: Disability Aids

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of BBC content that includes audio description; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: I refer the hon member to the response to WPQ 126802 answered on 9th February.

BBC: Equal Pay

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has discussed with the BBC closing the gender pay gap at the BBC by 2020.

Margot James: I refer the hon member to the response to WPQ 127003 answered on 9th February.

Gaming: Internet

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help inform children and their parents on the safe-guarding dangers of gaming apps; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: We want to make Britain the safest place in the world to be online for all users, including children. The market for games produced and delivered specifically for mobile devices is global and protections focus on self-regulation by industry providers. We welcome the increasing use of PEGI age ratings by games developers, publishers and platforms including through the International Age Rating Coalition which ensures games and apps available through many online and mobile storefronts (such as Google Play and Microsoft Windows) have PEGI age ratings. These provide vital information for consumers and can be linked to parental controls. Our Internet Safety Strategy green paper consulted on what steps we should take to build on existing online safety arrangements for children and young people, including in relation to video game apps. The Government response to the Strategy consultation will be published in the spring.

Social Media: Young People

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to raise awareness of the link between mental health issues and the use of social media in young people.

Margot James: DCMS is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Education on their joint Children and Young People's Mental Health Green Paper, published on 4 December 2017. As announced in the green paper, DCMS and DHSC are convening a working group comprising social media and technology companies. This group will consider further action that can be taken on children's wellbeing in relation to online activities. We expect the working group to to report on progress in due course.The Chief Medical Officer will also produce a report on the impact that technology has on young people's mental health.

Broadcasting: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of devolving broadcasting to Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Margot James: Broadcasting is and should remain a reserved matter.

Commercial Broadcasting: Radio

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made on the public consultation on the deregulation of commercial radio.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of proposals in its consultation on the deregulation of radio on the use of the Welsh language in radio in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of deregulation of commercial radio on levels of locally produced content.

Margot James: The commercial radio deregulation consultation closed on 8 May 2017 and the government response was published on 18 December 2017. The next phase is for DCMS to begin the detailed work to develop the new legislative structure and to bring forward legislation prior to analogue licenses coming up for renewal in 2022. Legislation will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows. We took great care to consider how the proposals will affect the nations. For example, due to the feedback we received from stakeholders and respondents on the proposal to allow Ofcom to have the power to set different news (national and local) or other local requirements in the nations, we have decided to not proceed with this. We agree that having such a power may disadvantage local stations in the nations and that a better approach is for Ofcom to have regard to the needs of all UK audiences in setting the requirements on a UK basis. We do not expect the remaining proposals included in the consultation to negatively impact the nations. The consultation concluded that the current localness requirements set out under s.314 of the Communications Act 2003 are now too onerous and are acting to constrain the commercial radio industry from being able to rationalise their production base. Removing this will allow services to compete more effectively against new online services. However, news and information must continue to be locally sourced.

Lotteries: Excise Duties

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many licensed small lotteries received an exemption for excise taxes in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Tracey Crouch: No society lotteries, of any size, are subject to tax on their proceeds. This is in keeping with the wider principle of not taxing charities. Where a single-branded umbrella lottery scheme is managed by an External Lottery Manager (ELMs), the External Lottery Manager will pay corporation tax on their own profits in the usual manner.

Writers

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made on the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the ability of authors to undertake provisional book tours in EU countries.

Margot James: The Department is working closely with stakeholders from across the Creative Industries sector, including Publishing, to better understand the potential impacts and opportunities of the UK’s exit from the European Union. This will include the ability of UK authors to tour in the EU, which is important to our world leading publishing industry. We are also working closely with the Home Office, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) to ensure that they are well informed of these issues.

Museums and Galleries: Finance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the report Why collect? published by the Art Fund in January 2018, if he will commission a comparative assessment of the public funding of (a) galleries in the UK and (b) galleries in (i) the US, (ii) France and (iii) Spain.

Michael Ellis: The recent Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England found that over the last ten years public funding to museums and galleries in England has totalled over £8.4 billion. It is not possible to disaggregate the proportion of this funding that is invested just in galleries. As culture is devolved, there is also no estimate of UK-wide funding. As part of the usual business of Government, officials regularly review and consider international comparisons in the development of museums policy. Credible data on international expenditure on museums and galleries is limited and there are no current plans to undertake further research.

Museums and Galleries: Finance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the report Why collect? published by the Art Fund in January 2018, if he will make an assessment of (a) the implications for his policies of the Heritage Lottery Fund's recent announcement of a reduction to its grant-making budget for 2018-19 and (b) the effect of that funding reduction on museums and galleries.

Michael Ellis: The recent Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England found that over the last ten years public funding to museums and galleries in England has totalled over £8.4 billion, including £912m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. While the fall in lottery receipts will necessitate a reduction in the amount of funds distributed, the Heritage Lottery Fund will still support a broad range of heritage across the UK, including museums and galleries. Investment at a local level has been protected as far as possible to maximise the coverage, spread and number of grants. However, because HLF funds are based on applications and does not allocate specific amounts per sector, it is not possible to estimate the level of funding provided to museums and galleries in coming years.

Museums and Galleries: Finance

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the report Why collect? published by the Art Fund in January 2018, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the effects on local museums and galleries of Government changes to funding for local authorities.

Michael Ellis: The recent Mendoza Review: an independent review of museums in England was seen by Cabinet colleagues and other government departments were involved throughout its development. The Secretary of State has not had any further discussions on local museums and galleries since its publication. DCMS officials are engaging with officials from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government regarding local authority funding and its impact on services including arts and culture.

Broadband: Barnsley

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of properties with access to ultrafast broadband in Barnsley.

Margot James: According to figures published by ThinkBroadband, which defines ultrafast as >100Mbps, Barnsley currently has 78.08% ultrafast coverage. The government has made a commitment to increase gigabit capable connectivity across the country and as part of this the Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) Programme launched a £190m Challenge Fund in November 2017. The fund will operate successive waves of bidding, which local bodies are invited to bid into to increase full fibre coverage in their local areas. We expect the next wave of funding to open in summer 2018. The government is also currently trialling a Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme which makes full fibre connection vouchers available to SMEs and some residential premises in four areas across the country. We are currently reviewing how we might extend this scheme on a national basis following our market trial, in response to the 2017 Conservative Manifesto commitment to ‘introduce a full fibre connection voucher for companies across the country by 2018’.

Mental Health: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to assess the effect of youth full-time social action on loneliness among participants and beneficiaries.

Tracey Crouch: This government is committed to working with the Jo Cox Commission, charities and businesses to create a government wide strategy that tackles loneliness. Part of this work will review the evidence-base about the impact of different initiatives in tackling loneliness, across different age groups, including young people.

Cybercrime: Small Businesses

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many SME businesses have taken up the Government's Cyber Essentials scheme.

Margot James: As of the end of December 2017, the number of Cyber Essentials certificates awarded to enterprises is 10,246. Just under 80% of these have been issued to SMEs. Cyber Essentials is one of many ways in which the Government is supporting SMEs to improve their cyber security resilience. For example, the National Cyber Security Centre launched its Cyber Security Small Business Guide in October last year, which helps SMEs protect themselves from the most common cyber attacks.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Waste Management

Dr David Drew: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, to which incineration facility Parliament's general waste is sent.

Tom Brake: All general waste is taken to Bywaters Materials Recovery Facility in Bromley-by-Bow. It is then consolidated with other general wastes for transporting to a licensed Energy from Waste facility in Kent run by Riverside Resource Recovery Limited.

Parliamentary Estate: Plastics

Caroline Lucas: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will introduce a charge of 25p for disposable cups on the parliamentary estate; what assessment the Commission has made of the potential merits of the recommendations made in the reports of the Environmental Audit Committee on plastic bottles and coffee cups, HC339 and HC 657, published on 22 December 2017 and 5 January 2018 respectively; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Brake: Following recommendations made to all public sector bodies in the Environmental Audit Committee’s Report, ‘Plastic Bottles: Turning back the plastic tide’, the House Service is currently reviewing the sustainability and environmental management of single use disposable plastics in the House of Commons.A paper is to be submitted for discussion at the Administration Committee in March 2018 outlining the initiatives that can be taken forward to reduce the consumption of single use disposable plastics on the estate and increase recycling rates of all waste materials. I will ensure that the hon. Member’s suggestion is conveyed to the Committee.

Parliament: Exhibitions

Jo Swinson: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reasons the House authorities decided not to choose the Southmead Project Wall of Silence exhibition to be displayed in Parliament.

Tom Brake: The House of Commons Commission has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Women and Equalities

Females: Directors

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent steps the Government has taken to increase the representation of women on boards in FTSE 100 companies.

Victoria Atkins: The number of women on FTSE 100 boards increased from 12.5% in 2011 to 27.7% percent in 2017. There are no all-male boards remaining in the FTSE 100, down from 21 in 2010. We are proud of this progress but we also want to go further – that is why we support the Hampton-Alexander Review’s business-led targets for 33% senior leadership positions and board positions to be women by 2020, across the whole FTSE 350. We are continuing to support the Hampton-Alexander Review on their engagement with businesses to ensure that this progress continues.

Females: Sports

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, which women's sporting events she has attended since becoming Minister for Women and Equalities.

Victoria Atkins: I am pleased to see that women’s impressive achievements in sport are gaining increasing recognition, and am delighted that three women have won medals for Team GB at the Winter Olympics so far. The Minister for Women and Equalities has not attended any women’s sporting events since her recent appointment but hopes to do so in the future.

Equal Pay

Alison McGovern: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether the Equality and Human Rights Commission will have a role in checking the accuracy of gender pay gap data.

Victoria Atkins: Regulations introduced in 2017 require employers with 250 or more employees to report specific data about their gender pay gap. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has the power to take enforcement action against employers that breach the regulations, including by publishing inaccurate data.

Equal Pay

Alison McGovern: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the resources available to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to check gender pay gap data.

Victoria Atkins: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has an annual budget of £18.3m in 2018-19, and we expect it to be able to resource its existing commitments from its allocated budgets during the current Spending Review period. Decisions on allocation of resources within its overall budget are matters for the EHRC as an independent public body.

Equal Pay

Alison McGovern: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many (a) public sector organisations, (b) businesses and (c) charities are required to report gender pay gap information this year; and how many (i) public sector organisations, (ii) businesses and (iii) charities have already reported gender pay gap data for this year.

Victoria Atkins: An initial assessment of the number of employers required to report under the regulations was made in 2015. Based on the Office for National Statistics’ Interdepartmental Business Register it was estimated that around 8,000 private sector and 1,200 public sector employers would be in scope of the regulations.We have been working with employers to ensure that our list reflects the changes since that assessment was made. The nature of business means that this number has changed and it will continue to do so. Employers change in size, often as a result of mergers and restructuring. Many businesses also have a number of subsidiaries, some of which may be in scope. We work closely with employers to ascertain who is required to report in light of this.Over 1,000 employers have already reported and more employers report every day. The most up to date picture of employers that have already reported can be seen on the Government viewing service:https://gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk/Viewing/search-results